A Fairy Tale is a delightful Mac game to play. It is different from other Mac games because the play is not a straight match swapping or sliding game. You do match colors but they do not have to be next to each other.
The game is simple to pick up through the step-by-step tutorial given by an elder elf. The object is to match the flipped tile or a group of tiles to the same color and symbol any where on the board. The bigger the groupings of tiles the bigger your score will be and faster you complete the level. If a gem appears and you find a pick, match the 2 pieces so you get the gem. Your total gem score is shown to the right. Also when you see the 2 faces of the elder and they are lit up, you can match them for a tremendous power-up. With the connected bombs make matches under them and they will light up and you can match the 2 for an explosion.
Some of the blocks in this game are the flowers you need to match a flower embedded tile to cause the blossoms to fall down, and the fairies in cobwebs. The only way to free them is to match tiles all around the web. This game is timed and you have only 3 lives. When your time is getting close to expiring a fairy floats down and gently reminds you to get a move on or else lose a life.
The bonus games start off easy but increase in difficulty as the levels get higher. The tiles show you where the fairies are located and after it is flipped, you are to find where they are. This is a form of a memory game.
A Fairy Tale also has a very intricate story line about fairies and their quest to fight evil. This is not always easy for the 3 young elves who are given only a bottle and a staff and are told to go seek the Tree of Wisdom. This is all told in a comic strip mode and is very amusing since the tree really had no clue to what they wanted.
This Mac game is a relaxing and fun play when you are in the mood to just be entertained. The music is soothing and aids in the play even though it is timed, you do not feel rushed. The graphics are colorful and good. A Fairy Tale is an excellent game for the whole family to discover the outcome of the 3 fairies.
Features of A Fairy Tale:
-New Type of Puzzle
-Unlock “Master Quest”
-Fun Story Line
Rating: 
In this magical, mysterious hidden world there are many images to be unlocked and found. Pure Hidden is a visually pleasing hidden object/seek and find Mac game. It will give you hours of play with their graphically interesting pictures and scenes.
Pure Hidden’s hidden object scenes are a little different from the usual room full of household items and mystery to be solved. It’s more like a 
modern day advertising billboard with objects discreetly spread out on the picture. Old time comic strips and superheroes will be on the scene to disguise the listed items. The layering of black and white objects with color forms also helps to distract your eyes from locating certain things.
If you have trouble finding your objects, click on the pink star to your left and then click on the listed word and a pink circle will help you discover your item. After using the star, you must wait until the star fills up again. The scenes are sometimes difficult to uncover the objects, but it is a fun challenge. There are many different kinds of scenes to search for hidden objects.
The Game Tree will lead you to the different scenes and mini games. One such game is to discover 10 items that do not belong and another is to find 33 butterflies in a beautiful garden. An action puzzle is to get the sheep over the fence (the trick is to wait until the 
question mark appears before clicking on the sheep). Another puzzle is to connect the pipes for the eggs to continuously pass through.
The draw to Pure Hidden is the beautiful, original graphics, the hidden object play and the many interesting and fun mini games. Enjoy this game for its variety of puzzles and stunning illustrations.
Features of Pure Hidden:
-Hidden Worlds
-Unlock Images
-Over 1000 Objects to Find
-Mini Games
Rating:
Any tale about Cleopatra whether fiction or non has been popular for hundreds of years since her attempts to reverse the decline of Ptolemaic Egypt. Her relationships with Caesar and Marc Anthony have peaked interests of many historians. National Geographic Games: Mystery of Cleopatra in their hidden object, seek and find method tells the story of an intruding Roman soldier’s murder on the docks from the advisor to the queen’s viewpoint.
You are the advisor and you are to serve the queen by investigating the murder of this soldier in this Mac game by searching for objects and using the items in tasks to uncover this mystery. You can choose from the Casual mode where found objects will automatically be placed for you, but in the Advanced mode you must place the object on their corresponding spot. As the advisor to Cleopatra, you have access to many areas others cannot view. You leave from your personal room with your necessities throughout the city of Alexandria 
looking for clues. In each scene you will search for objects, and you may need to investigate deeper in some areas of the screen when you see sparkling dots. By clicking on these regions you will zoom in and find more things to discover.
There are many mini games to conquer and complete from the usual find 6 similar items to logic puzzles. When the skip button charges, you can skip the games if you wish to continue on with this story and the seek and find plays.
Following National Geographic’s last 2 hidden object games, Herod’s Lost Tomb and The Lost City of Z, Mystery of Cleopatra is less like those 2 plays and more like the Dream Chronicles and G.H.O.S.T. Chronicles: Phantom of the Renaissance Faire. I found Mystery of Cleopatra heavy on the task portion, mini puzzles and historic facts, and not enough hidden object play which I prefer. I was surprised to find that these factors slowed down the play and made the story drag on. You would think the political intrigue and the personal vendettas would keep you on the edge of your seat but the extra readings of the people, historic interests labored the play a little. Maybe condensing the write-ups would keep the mystery tale more interesting but this version did not do it for me.
Features of Mystery of Cleopatra:
-Explore Alexandria
-Mini Games
-Historic Features
-A Roman Soldier’s Murder
Rating:
Sim |
Posted by Meg
Feb
27
2010
Garden Dreams is an action-packed Mac game for kids and casual gamers. Be ready to swat and spray pests and grow produce to help Granny Gertrude pay her bills and keep her lovely garden intact.
Granny Gertrude once grew prized veggies, but as she grew older, it was more and more difficult for her to keep up the work to grow a garden. It is up to you to assist her buy equipment, plant seeds, water her plants, harvest the food and keep the pests away. This all must be done with only 3 lives for each level.
The play is easy to learn, and the game will take you through it slowly at first and then with more intensity later on. You click on the object to perform an action. You click on the water can to water the plant, and if you do not do it fast enough, you will lose a plant. A great upgrade to get is the sprinkler, but this item must be unlocked before you can use it. You will lose the plant making you work longer on fewer plants. I lost 2 plants because I didn’t water fast. Also you must click on the ripe produce when it falls to the ground, but if this is not done quickly it will rot and you will lose money. Also after harvesting the produce you must click on Granny to give her the money or she is grumpy.
In between working very hard in the garden, you must fight off the pests so you do not lose plants and in turn money. This is done by swatting quickly and repeatedly on the caterpillars to squish them. When you start to unlock awards you can use pesticides to get rid of them faster. You must master getting your pests under control because in the higher levels the enemies will increase and become harder to conquer.
Your only defense will be your friends. Stinky Skunk can stun the pests giving you time to swat or spray them. Tom Turtle will pick up the produce you missed on the ground. He walks back and forth on the bottom of the garden picking up your tomatoes.
This Mac game is like Alice Greenfingers, but with more movement and action. Alice Greenfinger seemed like it is more of a sims time management game and Garden Dreams is a little more like an action swat and squish game. I think this game is fun for a lot of people without the violence, except when you swat and squish pests, and you are helping Granny Gertrude pay her bills.
Features of Garden Dreams:
-Make Your Own Garden Dreams Come True
-80 Levels
-Many Plants and Enemies
-40 Locked Upgrades
Rating:
Jewel Match 2 like Jewel Match is an aesthetically beautiful game with background pictures of fairytale castles and scenery. The graphics is what makes this Mac game different from other match plays.
The game is to match 3 or more gems in a row either vertically or horizontally to remove the jewels from the board. To finish a level you must make matches over the golden squares. When the amulet appears at the top of the board you must make matches below it to get it to the bottom.
Random gold and silver coins will appear and you must click on them so you can earn monies to buy useful items in the shop to use in your play. The fireball is one that will destroy gems both up and down the grid. The gem matches will fill your bag full of jewels (located in the upper right hand side). When the bag is full, you can buy a bigger chest to store your gems. The jewels are used to buy parts of the castle that you are building. Other helps are the mana for spells needed to activate and use whatever power-ups you have purchased. You just click on the mana to place on top of the screen until you are ready to use it. The hammers from the first game are again here in this second one. The hammers depending on the strength could destroy either one or all the same colored jewels. The map shows where you will be building your next castle and the levels.
The blocks are the boxes where you need to make 2 matches to clear and the single and double chains. The hours glass timer on the right is used in the timed play but not the relaxed one.
Jewel Quest 2 is very much like the first game where the graphics and background scenes are amazing, and the music is slow and soothing for a relaxed play. I enjoyed this second version better than the first with the extra play in earning coins and gems to buy extras in the shop and build castles.
Features of Jewel Match 2:
-150 Levels
-8 Power-ups
-Gather Mana to activate Power-ups
-Build 7 Fantasy Castles
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