In a district in Montreal, Canada, Dana Larose is eking out a living working for a Crown Attorney’s office as a hardworking secretary. Mac rpg/sim game Love and Order will take you along with Dana and her life as a single girl making a living working in a busy office while trying to have a fun love life after hours. Whatever happens, you will experience the tense and hectic atmosphere of an important business of a law office and the affairs of an unmarried woman in a metropolitan setting.

Dana’s story begins on Monday, Day 1, early morning. She is trained and thrown into the workforce by Ross Kim her supervisor. He instructs her to prioritize and organize her administrative tasks, and work with the third year law student and the attorneys. Each one of these people, including Ross, has a project for Dana to do. She is to introduce herself to the others in the office and familiarize herself to the lay of the land. You click on the move button to display a simple office layout. By clicking on the individual rooms, you can travel to these offices. There will be a list of options you can choose from on the right side. Sometimes there will only be a move button if there is no one in the room or nothing to do in that location. Also on the upper right are the moods of your co-workers, your own stress level, clues and a list of your projects. When you click on the projects button you will see the long list of things you must do. If you fail to do any one of the listed tasks, it will be printed in red and the person requesting that item will not be happy.

In order to keep your stress level in check, you must remember to go to lunch where you will have a few options from the cafeteria in the building to a fancy restaurant. However, your options may be limited since you start off with only $100 and earn very little at your new office after taxes and essentials. After work hours you can go out and enjoy yourself or go home and watch your favorite TV show. You can also ask people out but be careful because if they are not happy with your work, they will not be happy about going out with you.
Balancing work and your personal life is no easy matter, and Love and Order throws the worst and best of what life has to offer, and it is your job to walk this fine line. On top of your balancing act there is a mystery about the attorney who used to work at the office. He left a case file that you may need to investigate and get more information. By the way, he died.

There’s a lot of reading (no voice acting) to do but it does give you the information you will need to make your decisions, and if you are a slow reader, you can click at your speed; no problem. Each day goes by so fast you have to keep an eye on the time of day because if you miss lunch (I did many times), your stress level rises. It would have been more helpful with a clock or gauge instead of suddenly realizing you missed your lunch hour. The nighttime is easier because everyone leaves the office and the lighting is darker. The anime characters are all cute and well done. I guess they are all young so they can date each other, but there should have been an older person for realism. This rpg when it gets going feels like a sim time management play with the same intense feeling you get from being overwhelmed with a lot to do. The more you get into the game, the more addictive it will become. The many options will take you on different paths to different endings. Also if you are not Canadian, some of the terminology is different from the US. Fortunately, I have an in house lawyer to explain a few things like Crown Attorney (a district prosecuting attorney), and articling is an internship for law students in training. Having worked in a busy office, I can say that Love and Order gets it right about the stress level in the work place. So if you are a rpg or sim player or new to the game, give it a shot and maybe you’ll find love in the work place, eh?

Features of Love and Order:
-Work in a Law Office
-Uncover the Mystery
-Date your Co-workers

You may also enjoy: The Flower Shop

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

If you could train the next heavy weight champ of the world, how would you do it? In Universal Boxing Manager, take control of one upcoming boxing star, or multiple boxing prodigies and make stars out of them. Train, schedule fights, and purchase whatever you need in order to make the best boxers in the league. As manager, you make the money and dish it out as you please. But remember keep your fighters happy and healthy or you are going nowhere in the boxing world.

Universal Boxing Manager has all the aspects of a boxing manager both financially and emotionally but are nothing compared to the rush felt when you get to watch a boxing match. You can tell your boxer before the fight to fight a certain style, such as offensive or defensive, but then all you can do is watch. The watching is the best part of the game. Your boxer fights and takes hits like a RPG game with points flying off of health or energy, and it’s kind of exciting. Seeing an overhead view the fight and guys throwing punches left and right is cool and I enjoy this game each time I played it. The stats are just extra pluses to show you how your boxer won or went down.

I would give Universal Boxing Manager a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Managing the next Muhammad Ali is down right exciting.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

You are entombed in the deepest ocean encased in a sarcophagus with no memory of who you are and why you ended up in this strange world. In order to survive and find the necessary answers to your questions, you must first escape this mausoleum into an underwater city. Yes, this story sounds familiar with a different setting, but the tale will keep you searching in this beautifully drawn Mac seek and find game. Empress of the Deep-The Darkest Secret will hook you along the way looking for any answers to your identity and the mysterious location you are trapped in.

Puzzles must be solved, passageways must be traversed and answers must be found in this hidden object/seek and find game. This is less hidden object play, and more seek and find and uncover puzzles throughout this environment type of game. The story is the main focus with the mini games enhancing the play.

You move your cursor over objects in a location to find secrets of your past. If the cursor changes to a magnifying glass, there’s more to do at that spot. You move around the room until you get a large arrow pointing to an exit. If you have completed that area, it will say so on the upper left side, but if not, you may need to return. The map will let you know in red where you are and illuminated circle will let you know where you need to go. There are other helps along the way with Jacob talking to you, and there is a little girl who will request you get 10 red orbs for her in different locations. Along the way you may collect strange symbols that will come in handy later in different puzzles. In addition, there are flowers you will pick up in the scenes. All your information will be available to you on the lower left side of the screen. There is also a hint button on the lower right side when you use it, it will replenish in time.

The many locations are easily accessible except the Vault of Science. Its entrance is destroyed, and you will have to find another way into that area. Each scene is full of interesting and strange objects. The mini games are the usual jigsaw puzzle and unravel the codes to enter places. Later in the game you must find 3 Imperial Relics that hold the secrets of your past.

Mac game Empress of the Deep-The Darkest Secret is an involved tale with you looking for your identity, who the terrible empress Pandora is and why this garden dome under water exists. I found this game interesting and easier to move around and explore than other similar games like the Dream Chronicles series. It is more like Princess Isabella but with less mini games. So unlock the clues and while away the hours with Empress of the Deep. Be careful along the way and can you really trust Jacob?

Features of Empress of the Deep:
-Over 140 Scenes
-Mini Games
-Stop the Evil Empress

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Sinister City is not so sinister. This Mac hidden object game is more camp than scary or gruesome. Another vampire themed story about love and love lost. You can’t have enough of them.

John and Nina are newlyweds starting their new life as husband and wife when suddenly Nina mysteriously disappears. John goes to Sinister City to search for her because she was last seen there. He stumbles into a hotel where the clerk aids John in his search for Nina. After finding items and pieces of equipment for the hotel clerk, John uses a telepathic hypnosis machine to try to contact Nina. He enters another dimension where he sees Nina’s head warning him to not go looking for her. Afterwards another huge head appears. Count Orlok with vampire fangs threatens and laughs at John. The big head reminds you of the large one of the wizard in the Wizard of Oz.

The play is to search for objects like keys or receipts and pieces of items like torn map or broken mirror in different scenes. In each scene you will find different rooms you may enter and areas like an armoire, dresser, cage or box where you can zoom in to look for items. Most of the items are easy to spot but some are almost impossible and you will need to use the hint button that will recharge quickly in the casual mode. This point and click game will let you click as much as you want without penalty, but some of the areas you need to place your cursor will be difficult to spot even in the casual mode. There are items that you will need to move to uncover an object you need, but the cursor does not change so you must click away to find these spots. If you use the hint button, it will circle where the item is located but will not take you to the room the item may be in. Also when doing tasks you must click on an object to take to a spot but if you try to place the object on the spot, it may not take. You have to use the cursor arrow to place the object correctly.

The mini games are easy and can be skipped after waiting. There are jigsaw puzzles, connecting lines and placing the gears. The gear puzzle shows in silhouette where each gear and connector pieces are to be placed.

Sinister City has good, if not unusual, graphics and nice music that does not bother you, but the story needs work, John’s movement is stiff and the voice acting of the hotel clerk grates your nerves like fingernails scrapping the blackboard. The play is different with the main character moving around your scene, but he does get in the way when you are trying to do a task, and when you are clicking areas near a door, he’ll take you to another scene. The play is fairly short but you should try it out for yourself. For the reasons given, I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

Features of Sinister City:
-Campy Vampire Love Story
-Hidden Objects
-Mini Games

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Pocmon is a suped up version of Pacman gone wild in Mac game format. A mega fast game with a bounty of bonuses and enemies to increase your power and to thwart your every move that can blast your fun level to the cosmos. How can you beat that?

Move your Pocmon through the crazy maze eating as many dots as fast as possible and search for the larger power pills, blue ghosts, fruits, and bonuses to get extra life, speed up, glue down ghosts and for multiple scores. Wait, there’s more. Pocmon drunk and moving funny is LOL hilarious, and dynamite will blast the ghosts to the outer most galaxies of your own fantasies. Heck, go further than that by grabbing one of the Bonus Rounds to enter the bonus level.

What more do you need, you ask? What about the Duel Mode for more fun and excitement against your best buds? If your buddy loses all his lives, he comes back as a ghost. Can you ever get rid of this guy? Use bombs, guns and lasers against your friend and beat him in the game by grabbing more pills.

The games are fast, furious and fun. If retro arcade games are your thing, Pocmon is for you. Try your hand at eating as much as you can, power-up, blast your way through the maze, and beat your pal at this awesome Mac game. I did!

Features of Pocmon:
-Fast-Paced Arcade Game
-Lots of Bonuses and Power-Ups
-Duel Mode

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Apparently there are small people living in your computer who need a home and care to live a better life. These homeless munchkins come with their age, what they do, whether they want children or not, and their likes and dislikes. Your job is to kindheartedly adopt a person and house them in a home of their own. In time, this person will find a mate and the new generation of your couple begins. It is your duty to keep them happy, nurtured and healthy so they could have a great prosperous life.

You scroll through a cast of characters looking at what they do so they can bring in an income to support themselves. The person you choose will eventually find a mate, and the two will wander in and around the house doing chores, relaxing, reading email and exercising. In order to form their personalities you have access to 2 aids on the left of the screen. One is the green praising glove when you click on your person with this, he/she will continue to do the task he/she was doing. The other is the scolding glove and this must be used sparingly because they do not like it. If they are not getting along with each other, wait until later to bring them together. It’s funny because most of the time they wander around the house without interacting with each other. If there is a task to be completed, you must supply them with the necessary tools before they can complete their job.

Dropping your characters in a certain room or object will cause them to interact in the room or with the item. If you drop your character on the trash, he will take the garbage out. Their health, energy and happiness level will determine what they do or not do so you must be able to satisfy all their needs. That’s where the store comes in to fill food, medicine, home improvement and miscellaneous needs to make them happy, healthy and flourish.  Also if you will not be near your computer for a few days, you need to make sure the people have enough food while you are away.  They will let you know if you are feeding them the same thing each time by waving you down and telling you they want a variety of options.  In the demo you are only have access to the food and not the medicines or the fun things in life.  

There is a virtual family tree when your family grows generation after generation. In order to have children you bring the 2 together, and they will have a baby. Your children could leave for an opportunity elsewhere and the parents could earn money for it, but usually the children stay until they are 18. The tracking of the generations is interesting to see where they go and how they develop.

Also your people like to pick up things and there is a section for their collection. The best thing about the collectibles is it can be sold on the internet for needed money.

Virtual Families is very much like a simple Sims game, and the big difference is that it runs on real time and is synchronized with your computer’s clock so your people will be sleeping when you go to bed. I checked this out one night and found the screen dark with glowing lamps, but the 2 adults and the child were wandering around the house. When I dragged everyone to bed, the kid fell asleep, but the 2 adults did not. The family will go about their daily life whether you are on the computer or not.

This game can get a little strained when the people refuses to do something. To get around this you keep at it and they will eventually do what you want. It is a little strange keeping people, even though cartoons, as pets. I think I’ll stick to Fish Tycoon and watch the fish grow and flourish instead. Also this game is similar to their Virtual Villagers except in VV you have a lot of people with different skill sets, and in Virtual Families you deal mainly with one family. Sim players will enjoy this excellently developed and well made Mac game for hours of endless play.

Features of Virtual Families:
-Generations of Families
-Shop for Food, Medicines, Home Improvements, and more
-Quirky Characters

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Lightning, candle burning down a skull, moonlight, eerie music, sudden screams in the night, a female clutching hair and murder begins your adventure into Mac hidden object game Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue Collector’s Edition. This game is based upon a short story by the author published in a magazine in 1841.

Madame L’Espanage is savagely murdered in her home and her sister, Camille, is missing. This part of the story is a little different from the original story. Many people in the surrounding homes in 19th century Paris heard foreign language being spoken at the time of the murder but no one saw anything. The victim was clutching hairs that may or may not be human.

Begin the investigation by choosing to play in the regular mode with shorter recharging for the skip and hint buttons and active zones highlighted or the expert mode with longer recharging and no sparkling helps. You meet C. Auguste Dupin who will mentor you in the art of criminal investigation. However, you will be doing all the work. The notebook at the lower right will glow when there is a new entry. Click on it to review anything you need to know. Move your cursor around the locations to find hidden object games, items you can pick up when your cursor changes to a hand, navigation arrows to move you to another scene and areas to zoom into for a closer look. For the HOGs you find all the items at the bottom of the screen. Be sure to move your cursor to open drawers, move curtains aside and reveal more items. At the end of the game, you will receive an inventory item you will use later.

There are a few mini puzzles integrated into the story like putting together an old time lighter, light it and light a candle. Also you need to figure out how to open up a chest from a drawing you found earlier in the play.

I like the fact there are not a barrage of mini games to do in order to move through the game. There are a lot of HOGs to play but they are not difficult, and the items are common artifacts and items appropriate for the time period: feather, ink well, old fashion keys, etc. The scenes, although, in the 1800’s are the usual living room, entryway, kitchen, outdoors where you must carefully peruse each crack and cranny unless you are playing the regular mode where it will sparkle if you need to take a closer look. Nothing in the plays are out of the ordinary and not very exciting. The story scenes are not voiced but you read the dialogue. The dramatic beginning fell to a less compelling everyday game. I give it a 3 out of 5 for solid hidden object plays.

Features of Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Morgue Collector’s Edition:
-Many Hidden Object Games
-Mini Puzzles
-5 Desktop Wallpaper and 1 Screensaver
-Murder Story

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Murder, She Wrote, a long running TV show during the 80’s and 90’s starring Angela Lansbury, is now a Mac hidden object game. It features Jessica Fletcher, a best-selling novelist living in Cabot Cove, Maine, who manages to stumble on many murder mysteries in that area and wherever she travels.

There are five books you can click on to discover a fascinating murder mystery of Jessica Fletcher’s. These stories will take you through many hidden object scenes for you to uncover the culprit. During your investigation you will meet Jessica, the sheriff and others who will be involved in each crime. Many of these characters are familiar to people who have watched the TV shows. I, unfortunately, have not seen one episode. I’ll have to look them up. These people will occasionally pop up during the HOG in order to further the story.

The HOG part of the story is your usual scene full of items to click on and discover. The list of typed items initially has letters missing from them and you will need to search the scene for the typewriter keys. The missing vowels will not hamper your search since you can easily make out what the words are without the letters, however finding the blanks is part of the fun. The hint button will replenish on its own, but to hurry along the wait, you can click on the typewriter cartridge to speed the process. All those who do not know what an old fashion typewriter cartridge looks like, it has 2 black wheels connected with black inked ribbon. Don’t click on it unless you need it or you will waste time.

Some of the items on the list is highlighted in blue and these things will need more than one step to complete. Also when you find multiple items of the same thing (ie: life jackets), you will need to drag it into another object to complete. Another item you may have to put together things is the plunger in order to use it. I found trying to use the plunger a little difficult because you need to hit exactly at the right spot in the sink to unclog it. There are other puzzles you must piece together or match buoys to their owners. Another mini game is the memory game where you uncover 2 items and you must make a match. If you do not make a correct match, the 2 objects will change places making you remember the switch on top of the item. At least this game challenged you a little more than the usual matching games.

I like Murder, She Wrote even though the HOG was easy to play whether timed or not. Maybe lately other HOGs have some items so obscured you will never recognize their identity, making finding all the items impossible. I found I didn’t need the hint button in any of the scenes which is unusual for me. I did use the button to test it out and found it to be clear and useful, especially if you need it to replenish in a hurry. The only complaint besides the plunger is that you keep going back to the same scenes. However, with the story it made sense to go back either to confront the witnesses again or find additional evidence.

The scenes are clear and colorful, the characters and their voices represented the actors well and the music from the show is light and enjoyable. Even though the HO and mini games are not difficult this Mac game is a pleasure to play and discover the answers to each mystery.

Features of Murder, She Wrote:
-5 Murder Mysteries
-Based on TV Show
-More Than 20 Environments

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Under the scrutiny of your commanding officer, you are interrogated about your outrageous claim of flying saucers. Did you really see it or is it your imagination? You can’t lie to your superior, but will he believe your wild claim? You stand your ground, and he confirms the sighting. You are given a small group of soldiers to take care of any unfriendly aliens in RPG Mac game Devastro.

The artwork is simple and the play is simple or is it? Left click to move your person, to shoot you right click, and to throw grenades you hit the space bar. Each level is a mission to kill the aliens. You move around the field looking for the spaceship and aliens. You can move all your men in sync, move them separately or you can leave your men on guard duty and you go scout out the aliens.

After each successful mission you and your troops are promoted, and as the ranks go up shooting and reactions of your soldiers are faster. You can train a new recruit into a lean, mean fighting soldier, because you need the best to kill the aliens and destroy the spaceship.

In addition to the promotions, you will eventually get cars and tanks to use to smash aliens with, and you can shoot at a car to explode it. Also another helpful thing to do is to lure the aliens to the minefield. There are fields, roads and water to travel around, and items and objects to collect as in other RPG games.

Devastro, similar to Avernum 5, is not a fancy game but there’s a lot of action and excitement when you beat the many aliens who come at you from many angles. You need to use all your strategy know how in order to maneuver your troops on your own turf instead of outer space, kill the aliens, and destroy their flying saucer. Remember to protect and save the sheep.

Features of Devastro:
-Over 50 Levels
-3 Different Scenes
--Grand Finale

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Are you a soap opera fan or maybe a Dash fan? You do not have to be either to enjoy Mac sim time management game Soap Opera Dash. This game will let you in on the inside workings of a soap opera.

Rosie’s soap opera script is turned down and now she is without a job. Walking down the street and not paying attention, she bumps into an old flame, Simon. Coincidentally, Simon is without a job but he is not worried even though there are few options left for him. His ego and confidence will pull him through this slump or will it? Guess who comes to the rescue of the 2 unemployed people? You guessed it. Flo from Dinertown will save the day once again. She suggest Rosie along with Simon produce their own soap opera show. Flo, Quinn, Hal, Bernie and others will help out. If you are not a Diner Dash groupie, you may not recognize the names, but for the others they know Flo from the diner, Bernie the bookworm, and Quinn the wedding coordinator. Usually you play as Flo in Diner Dash games, and Quinn in Wedding Dash, but in Soap Opera Dash Rosie is the main person who will make the production run smoothly and efficiently.

You begin the play by selecting your cast for the first episode of this show. You select who will play the lover, the jealous ex and the best friend. Your actors will walk onto the set, you click on Bernie’s script and then click on the actor. Matching the script color to the actor will earn you points. After the actor reads the script, you will see where they want to go. It could be wardrobe, hair, and makeup. Be sure to match the colors. Don’t worry there’s more. Within each station if you see stars circling around the actor, you need to click on him/her before the stars disappear. Once you click on the actor, you must decide what type of clothes, hairdo or lipstick color the actor prefers. When you see the actor smiling widely, you know he/she likes that type. Click on the preferred option to choose. This play is similar to Sally’s Spa and Salon. If that wasn’t enough, you’ll need to set up the props, feed the actors, keep the fans at bay and treat the movie critic with kid gloves. This play is similar to Leeloo’s Talent Agency.

Okay, there’s more. Judges are there to vote on how well you play the game and meet your goals; if you do a combo (Rosie can carry 2 scripts at the same time) or don’t lose a scene. With the votes you can buy upgrades at the Treasure Trove for better stations, speedy shoes for Rosie and faster script writing. Also when you are ready to shoot the show, you must look for Hal the cameraman and drag him to the filming equipment.

Yes, there’s plenty to do and will get confusing and hectic for inexperienced time management players, but it may be too easy and too short for TM experts. The play is not original but it still is good fun. The artwork is good like the other Dash plays so give it a try and produce an Emmy winning soap opera.

Features of Soap Opera Dash:
-50 Levels.
-Cute Story
-Mini Games

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Little Shop of Horrors all over again! Killer plants have attacked the all girl school and are creating fear and havoc among the students and teachers. However, you and the science club girls are unfazed and boldly counterattack these people eaters.

You are the president of the science club about to meet after school for its weekly session. Your specialty is psychology, and therefore, you wear a mask for your project? You like pizza, horses and modern art. This is the profile they assign to you. You must select the level of difficulty from elementary (relaxed), standard (normal), and graduate (challenge) for your play. Jennifer the VP of the club enters the classroom. She is a biology person and is quite bossy. She will spew science facts freely while assisting you. You both hear an ear-piercing scream coming from outside the building. Both you and Jennifer run to the window on the 5th floor and see an amazing and frightening sight. The school teachers are being attacked by killer plants (Jennifer disputes they are plants but looks like plants to a psych person). We both head out to help save them, but are stopped by the intruders. Throughout the building you encounter these savage aliens, and you must battle them room by room and floor by floor in order to survive.

The play is to confront these plants in each site and exchange blows with them. You choose different attacks or flee in order to beat these things. You can punch, defend, item, use special attributes or flee from your enemies. The bad guys are hurt or they can move avoiding your assaults. As you search along the classrooms the killer plants increase or do they? They will use holograms to confuse you and dodge your punches. In each battle, depending on how well you do, you and your team will gain experience. As the aliens increase so do your team. More girls will join you in your battles against these plants. However, the girls in the back row will not be able to combat until you swap them out with the ones in the front row.

Science Girls! is a simple to learn, entertaining Mac RPG play for everyone. It’s easy enough for beginners to pick up quickly, and it also is a great game for seasoned players at the higher more difficult levels. The anime-style artwork is excellent and similar to Cute Knight. The dialogue however is funny and amusing especially if you understand Japanese. All that is missing from Science Girls is the song “Don’t Feed the Plants” or Seymour singing “Feed Me” from The Little Shop of Horrors.

Features of Science Girls!:
-3 Difficulty Levels
-Hypnotize Your Enemies
-Science Girls to the Rescue!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

For all you Miss Teri Tales fans, and I’m one of them, there is a third sequel to the life and events of Miss Teri Tales who lives in that infamous place Peektown. Miss Teri Tales 3 – Danger Next Door is another great hidden object Mac game we have all grown to know and love. Now that Teri is mayor she is involved in all aspects of the town including another murder. This time it involves a new neighbor who just moved into Peektown. Norman Montgomery’s body is found in this new neighbor’s patio.

The play is a little different from the last 2 games. You no longer start in Teri’s office looking for help objects to assist your search. Now you go directly into the play speaking to various people in town. You are Miss Teri Tales looking for clues with Sheriff Allen. You speak to all the witnesses at the party the new neighbor, Mike Mickaelson, threw the night before. Everyone was there that night.

You begin by speaking to people who may have had a little too much to drink that night and their memory is a little foggy, if not down right bizarre. The hidden object scenes are filled with hallucinations and strange objects. The items are easily found and if you need a hint, it’s available for you but you need to wait to recharge. Recovered objects will be useful for actions in the scene and actions are written in yellow. Sometimes you have to combine objects to use. Some of the hidden object scenes are a montage of separate pictures with many items to search for in each one (comic strip). Others are in different parts of Mike’s house. Each witness will lead you to different people and places. There are mini games you must remember the name of the kidnapped dog in order to get into the town hall, you must collect 10 fingerprints and search for someone’s telephone number.

This third sequel continues with the familiar people and animals in this small town and is still very humorous for a murder mystery. The hidden object scenes are good and original with fun mini games. Drop in on the old neighborhood and find Monty’s killer.

Features of Miss Teri Tales 3:
-New Funny Adventure
-More Than 60 Levels
-New Mini Games and Puzzles
-Relaxed or Timed Mode

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

What, no jungle or haunted house? Yes, it is a kidnapping but Mac hidden object game Vault Cracker: The Last Safe is a creative and original game you will enjoy playing. There are a lot of problem solving puzzles you must figure out to progress in this game.

Melissa an ex cat burglar who once was at the top of her game is now reformed and living abroad with her young son, Noah. She has come back to her old haunts in order to show her son her home. However, Noah mysteriously disappears and is held by an unknown person who blackmails Melissa and her skill as a vault cracker. Now Melissa must rescue Noah, find out who is behind the blackmailing and avoid the police at the same time.

You can play casual with more helps or advanced where there is more of a challenge. There are a variety of hidden object scenes to search items for and in different modes. Sometimes you will be picking out parts of objects from their likeness at the right of the screen or you may be searching items from a list at the bottom of the screen. In addition you may be choosing multiples of the same items. There are mini games where you pick a lock and solve problems like crossing from atop on one building to another. This point and click game will keep you busy figuring out each dilemma in the darkest back alley or bar.

If this is not enough for you, Melissa must disguise herself so she is not recognizable by not only the police but the bad guys as well. You can select her wigs and outfits to change her look. Luckily she has an associate, Mouse, who is a techy nerd type, and he’ll be there to help her out.

I like the problem solving aspect of this point and click game. It’s enjoyable trying to figure out you need a certain tool to open a locked cabinet or fly across buildings. If you play the casual mode and it’s too easy for you or you finish it, play the advanced mode for a challenge. The artwork is original and good, and the music intense to fit the mood of the play. Try it out and rescue Noah from the kidnapper.

Features of Vault Cracker: The Last Safe:
-Many Different Hidden Object Plays
-Lots of Problem Solving
-Original Artwork

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Do you want to be king and take care of your people in your own land? In Be a King, a fantasy RPG, sim time management, strategy Mac game, you can do just that—be a king, but first you must start out as prince and prove your worthiness through this game. Can you do it?

Set in medieval times you as ruler must build housing for your minions who look toward you to provide food and security for their well being. There are dwellings to be built to house your many serfs who do the day to day activities freeing you to manage your royal duties. Food must be manufactured to feed your people so farms must be plowed, the mills erected and, of course, the ever popular bakeries started. In addition to all these things you must build your fortress to fight against invading monsters and bandits. You can always buy a hero to fight these enemies, but beware he may lose and you are out 1 hero. Too bad because you know you’ll need his services soon enough when all the bad guys show up. And, a very important fact in this game and, in life itself, is finances. Nothing seems to work without money. You need money for supplies to build, to hire workers and heroes. Too bad you are not king yet and have the riches of your inheritance at your fingertips. That’ll come later after working and fighting hard to master Be a King.

Be a King is a fun, fast-paced but manageable fantasy RPG game (that’s how it’s advertised), but plays more like a sim time management game. This is a good starter RPG game for kids and casual gamers who may be investigating getting into fantasy RPG. It’s also non-violent even with the monsters and bandits. They are the obstacles in every game you face. There’s very little action except when you click on the monster and click yes to send your hero out to fight the bad guy. The story line was interesting and I liked the play and would recommend it to families. This game is more like Westward 2 than Kivi’s Adventure however, so find some time to build your village, town or even cities and play Be a King.

Features of Be a King:
-25 Adventure Levels
-7 Different Buildings
-Upgrades
-Monsters and Bandits
-Exciting Quests.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Get away from the mad rush of the city and move to Sunshine Isle where everything blooms every season and start a beautiful life there in your new Flower Shop. Meg did just that and is happily growing daisies, lilies, roses and more.

This game is a 3-D artwork of cartoon characters and deep color scenery. I am especially fond of the main character’s name. She is a hard worker when you quickly click on the seed packet, take it to the soil bed, water, fertilize, cut, wrap, deliver to the customer and finally click on the money to complete your transaction. You have to be fast in order to please all your customers; especially the nerds who want to impress Meg by ordering large bouquets of flowers.

A fun side mini game is to click on the bugs to keep them away from Meg’s garden. You have to be quick and nimble to crush each insect in a short time period. If you are fast enough you will get points toward your total score.

Other ways of garnering more points are by getting the quick bonus, chain bonus and the air catch bonus in the main play. Each level increases Meg’s responsibilities by adding extra flowers, tasks and impatient customers. Planning ahead, if you can, will help in speeding through some transactions.

This game is great fun if this kind of sim play is your thing. It is a little like Farm Mania without the animals and a little like Diner Dash series with a cast of different characters. So think ahead and move quickly to please your customers with your beautiful sprays of flowers.

Features of Flower Shop:
-60 Levels
-4 Locations
-Beautiful Blooming Flowers
-Lots of Upgrades

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The mysterious island of Isola has come full circle and the only uncharted area is the center of the island where no one will enter for the fear of the unknown. However an innocent child discovers a never seen mask near the forbidden path. The elders gather to discuss what to make of this discovery, and soon they decide a group of 5 individuals will venture into the deep dark jungle traveling on the forbidden path.

You select your group of 5 people. Make your choices wisely because they will be your new tribe. If you played any of the other 4 Virtual Villager games, you know you must select a child since only kids can collect mushrooms and relics that will appear periodically throughout the game. In addition you will need skilled people to develop different buildings, research scientific knowledge and other useful talents to survive anything. Also young adults will be needed to endure long and prosperous lives since older people will pass away. People can still die from starvation and disease so anyone of any age can succumb to death. For new players you can restart the game at any time to play a better game. The free demo is very generous and can play for a long time to help develop your tribe.

Your tiny tribe is ambushed and taken prisoner by a group of faceless, non-believing natives. You play as a god trying to protect your tribe. There are 3 colors of masks worn by these non-believers designating their behavior and duties. The red masks are very aggressive and will not listen to your religious gibberish. The yellow masks are guards who will chase your people away from their possessions. The blue masked “heathens” (as designated by the game) are sometimes receptive to the beliefs of your tribe and can be converted to your side.

Your group is imprisoned and surrounded by stakes to keep your people in one spot. You get your tribe working right away tearing down the stakes and building a structure to protect your food. Working, researching and doing activities will increase the experience of each tribe member to become productive citizens and great preachers for your way of life. In order to convert the other side you click and drag one of your tribe members on top of a blue masked guy to talk about your beliefs. You may or may not do an effective job but you can try again. Sometimes you will talk to them too much and the blue person will run away. Any time a conversion occurs a light from above will shine on your new tribe member and unmask them. Other god-like powers you will earn are setting a swarm of bees on the mask tribe to shoo them away from an area, butterflies to distract some people, earthquake and lightning. A couple of these things will sure to convert some of the non-believers.

Throughout your play you must make sure your tribe learn new skills to improve their outcome. This includes enlarging your tribe. You must first get someone to start building the hut with flowers so they can reproduce. Once there is a match, the couple will enter this structure and produce a baby. One drawback about a mother is she will not work for 2 years. The larger your tribe the more things you can get done. On the menu options at the beginning of the game you can move the activities to a fast speed so the lives of your colony will be accelerated. The normal speed is too slow for me so I moved it up to fast. More buildings went up and things happened quicker. However, the downside may be that your child who has been collecting the important relics for different types of points (divine or tech) and food will outgrow his/her duties. If that happens, you will need to produce another child because adults cannot see or pick up the relics needed to further your game. It will take 2 years (Virtual Villager time) before the kid can start collecting.

In addition to converting the “heathens” you must tear down the mausoleum and totems that are guarded by the masked tribe. Collecting relics can uncover the powers and increase the energy needed to keep your play going. The map will give you a bird’s eye view of the area. This will quickly get you to where you need to be in order to click on a person (you can only click on your tribe to maneuver them) to do something for the tribe. The masked people do not believe in you so you cannot click and drag them anywhere. This map really comes in handy when you see a relic or mushroom for a child to pick up. The kid is usually running around at the furthest point of the land and you need to look at the map, locate the child, click on the him/her and drag him/her to the item and drop the kid on it. The relic will disappear quickly if not picked up right away.

Virtual Villager 5 – New Believers is virtually the same as the other 4 games (Virtual Villagers, Virtual Villagers 2, Virtual Villagers 3 and Virtual Villagers 4) with the addition of the masked tribe. The artwork and sounds are the same. The captors throw another obstacle to the lives of your people. The biggest difference in 5 is the converting the natives to your faith and your hopes for the future, and maybe finally finding the answers to Isola Island. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea but the sim play is enjoyable and fun. The problems you will face and the puzzle solving will keep you busy for many hours. Also you can start all over with a group of different tribesmen. Remember, you can always leave your tribe and come back to their lives later. The outcome may be good or bad when you do return so be prepared and increase, convert and prosper your tribe.

Features of Virtual Villagers 5 – New Believers:
-Convert the Heathens
-Work, Learn and Collect
-Solve Puzzles and Problems

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Arcade games are usually not my favorite type of Mac game, but Aqua Park changed my mind with its colorful cartoons, 3 game modes, merits, screensavers and fun action. What more do you need?

The story is simple. You have invented a helium tank that can encapsulate fish in order to catch them for your new aquarium park. Your cursor is the tank and you click and point on a fish to send it up to the boat. You need enough points to earn a bronze star for you to continue on to the next level. The bar at the bottom of the screen will let you know how much more time you have until your next star and the end of the level. It’s fairly easy to reach the bronze star, but the silver and gold take a little doing.

As the levels increase, so does your challenges. Sometimes you will have 2 different types and colors of fish and 2 boats. You must match the color of the fish to the color of the boat. Other times you will have obstacles like the puffer fish or sunfish that will pop your captured fish. Another block in your game will be the helium tank. It will run out quickly. You can wait until it replenishes or you can click on the tanks floating down from the ships. Other things that float down from the top are the clocks (gives you extra time), the bubble nets (float it down to where there are a lot of fish and it will trap all of them and float them to the boat), cutie pie (will stop all the fish to look at her), disco ball (the fish will start dancing), cameras (the fish will stop to smile and have their picture taken) and speed boosters (will send the fish quickly to the top). There’s so many bonuses at the beginning that you wonder what will be next.

After a few levels you earn things for your aquariums. These aquarium scenes can be used as fun screensavers for your computer. Also you will unlock other modes and challenges.

This arcade game is fun because you can get past a few levels easily without getting discouraged. Of course, the levels will increase in difficulty, but you will be able to see different backgrounds, fish and complete your aquarium park. Even though the play is repetitive, you find yourself interested in the different types of fish and objects, they can conjure up for this Mac game. It is also challenging enough for gamers who wish to be tested. You can do this by reaching the gold star every time. Finally, this Aqua Park is just plain fun and different from the many sim and hidden object games that are out there. Give it a go and see if you agree with me that it is time for a change of pace.

Features of Aqua Park:
-3 Game Modes
-Fun and Challenging Levels
-Many Fish to Collect

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Match games have to work hard to make it interesting and a little different from all the others. Deep Voyage is a new aquatic Mac match game has done just that with a twist. Instead of swapping, sliding, or twisting to match 3 or more like colors, in this game you click directly on 3 or more like pieces to destroy them. You can explode a whole slew of items in one fell swoop and can do so quickly.

The story is about a young mermaid who longs to be in the royal undersea gardens. The only way to get access to the beautiful seascape is to enter and win the design competition being held by the palace. Unfortunately she does not have the funds to buy the necessary supplies to decorate her entry. Her friend convinces her to search for decoration on the ocean floor.

This is where your adventure begins. The match 3 or more like pieces to destroy starts off easy enough but quickly gets difficult, and strategy to use bombs, dynamite, and other extras are definitely needed to pass a level. When you see a token you need to make matches below it to bring it down to the bottom of the board to collect the piece. The coins are important to buy power ups. Some of the extras are instant bombs, column and row remove, pieces eliminator (randomly removes pieces from the board), recolor, and bombardment (bombs fall to random pieces). The red flashing diamonds remove blocks of items around it, and to activate it you click on it. The timer is on the right and when it runs out, you lose the level. You can click on the power up button located on the lower left of the screen when it is loaded. Click on it and then click on any part of the board you need assistance. However to use it again you must wait until it reloads.

In between the plays you find a jigsaw puzzle with underwater scenery to put back together by swapping tiles. If you keep the like colors together the picture will come together easily for you. Also you will see the map that gages your progress in this adventure game. In the meantime you build your sea garden from the points won in each level and decorations being open to you.

It’s been a while since a new kind of match game has been reviewed here. This play is great fun and the higher levels took a lot of strategy to complete. Use your power-ups and extras to beat each level. Enter the underworld design contest and win your way into the royal grounds.

Feature of Deep Voyage:
-200 Levels
-Design Underwater Gardens
-Bonuses
-Royal Garden Design Competition

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mr. Hobblepop does not look much like a ghostbuster (did Bill Murray?) but when you are desperate, he’ll do. He claims he is a paranormal investigator and felt strong spirit activities coming from the house. He’ll guide the couple throughout the house to exorcise the ghosts, and there are plenty of them. He needs the man and his wife to do quite a bit.

You play the couple and search the house for items he needs for his contraption, clues to the identity of the ghosts and many more things. He’ll direct you first to the bedroom area, and in each section there will be 4 hidden object scenes to search. The main area will expand the scene on both sides so remember to go to the right and left. When you move the cursor around the room, it may turn into a door. This will show you into another environment for a HOG. There will be many information you can find in each HOG scene about the main ghost from wills, letters and newspaper clippings. At the bottom left corner you will find batteries with a list of tabs and clicking on the log will open up more tabs for riddles, gadgets, ghosts, and checklist. The hint button is at the lower right corner and you can use it when the 4 light bulbs are lit. Finding an object will light a bulb and finishing a scene will refill all the lights. If you click on too many wrong items, you will get a surprise. It is fun but may scare young kids. To get back to the main room, look for the green arrow at the bottom left above the batteries.

A main ghost will haunt the 8 different areas and there will be minor ghosts hanging around. When you see the monocle on the bottom right flashing you know there is a spirit lurking around. You click on the monocle and your cursor will change to that. When you move the mini monocle around, you will see a cold/hot gauge at the bottom. When you have located the ghost it will be red hot and you click on that area. The ghost will move from that spot and you will need to locate it 2 more times to rid the ghost. You can roam from area to area searching your hidden objects. After completing all the rooms you play a mini game.

The first game is with Barbara Taylor a once up and coming starlet. She continues to search for her elusive starring role and that’s why she is angry. The game is called Scream Queen and you click to photograph Barbara’s pitiful face for the maximum points when she pops up suddenly. However, do not click on the pretty starlet or Barbara will get mad. Also spirits will speak to living things in riddles and puzzles. At the end you will get a riddle and you must complete its instructions. After completing the first section you will move on to the kitchen area.

What makes this hidden object game so good is a combination of things: funny story, great artwork, lots of HOGs, some mini plays, appropriate sounds and good music. This HOG is a moderately difficult play. All the objects are not always visible and with the cartoon contorted drawings you may need to search longer than you usually are used to and it is not so difficult you get frustrated. The instructions
will not hold your hands so you may need to explore and look at different things on your own. Of course, the animation is fantastic to view and well done. So get busy and rid the house of all the spirits and collect the spectral energy. I give this awesome and entertaining game a 4 out of 5.

Features of Mishap: An Accidental Haunting:
-8 Chapters and 32 HOGs
-Awesome artwork
-Fun Mini Games

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Avernum 5 is a subterranean RPG adventure epic Mac game for all levels of expertise in gaming. The explicit tutorial and in-game help will introduce the new players to RPG play, and still be challenging enough for hardcore gamers with the battle disciplines and magical spells.

The Empire is prosperous and at the moment a peaceful land ruled by the powerful Empress Prazac who one day is attacked by Dorikas a dissident who escapes to the out lands called Avernum. There you will go underground and find the scrounge of the earth waiting to attack you. There are sickly people living in caves eating lizard meat and fungus. It was once a prison colony full of enemies of the Empire.

This is the land the Empress’ army will send you, a person who has not always been an ideal soldier and in the wrong place at the wrong time. You must prove yourself worthy in this hellish underground or die trying. You must choose your fellow soldiers wisely and for their strengths and weaknesses. There are 3 different races in this world: Human, Nephilum (feline people) and Slithzerikar (lizard people living underground).

The Empire is counting on you and your team, so choose wisely because Dorikas and his band of monsters, bandits, and misfits in the deep recesses of the caves of Avernum will not let you leave easily. Your only help may be the cave dwellers, but they may try to kill you also so beware of your back.

There are hundreds of artifacts to be found including magical spells and weapons. The blessing magic is useful for hard fights. When in combat you can end a characters turn by clicking on him or pressing the space bar. There are lots of keyboard shortcuts to enhance your play. The world map on the left side of the screen will aid you in your strategy.  This game is so large with its epic story line and huge environment to wander and search through the dark cavernous land that it will take you hours of battling foes and finding needed spells and artifacts.

In the beginning you get your sea legs by wandering around the brick passages and exploring the different movements and artifacts to be found there. The movements were quick and fast. The RPG play where you choose your statements affects what happens in the play and changes the story with your choices. You never know what’s right or wrong in this tale.

The fighting in the beginning is a little dull with little action in attacking the stationary enemies but this kind of play is great for anyone new to fighting games.

Avernum 5 is similar to Kivi’s Underworld without the fast paced myriads of attacking zombies in random battles. It has an intense story line, over 50 spells, many unusual encounters with foes and villains. The play to kill the enemies is to click on the bad guys and the movements can be fast and easily handled even for a casual gamer looking to getting into RPG games. Avernum 5 is a good starter game for all those new to the play.

At Org we decided to have our casual gamer, Meg, and experienced player, Trackbum, both try out Avernum 5. Obviously Meg had to read and learn many new things, and she struggled through some of the maneuvering of the soldiers in a straight line. In fact they were running around in circles and was quite funny to watch. It took a while but her soldiers eventually fought courageously through a battle. Meg found the sounds eerie and cave like. She gave the game 3.5 stars.

On the other side of the spectrum, Trackbum sat down without reading anything and knew what to do at every turn. The start of the search was a little boring for him but as the story progressed he got into the play more and more. He knew the sounds were the usual cave noises and was not impressed by them. However he gave Avernum 5 four stars for the battle disciplines and rpg plays.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars