Jane’s father never came back from his endless search for the fabled city of Shangri La. In Mac match 3 game Tibet Quest Jane goes looking for her pertinacious parent who believed in the existence of a mythical paradise where you live a long, healthy and happy life.

The match play is a little different from other match 3 games. The board scrolls across the screen when Jane’s path is cleared by making matches of 3 or more of the same items to clear. You follow her path through locked entrances by matching keys to fill the orb at the bottom of the screen. Also you match bridges in order to cross over to another grid or collect machetes so she can chop the bushes to clear her way. Look for the jugs of water to put the fire out and use the drill to blast your way through stone. There are tasks Jane must perform to help the Dalai Lama on her path to find her father. You recover stolen artifacts and rebuild a ruined temple.

The blocks and power-ups are all intertwined in the play and there are many different things to keep you busy. The glass tiles need 3 identical items above to crack to get by those obstacles.

The jigsaw puzzles present views of where you are and where you are going. The puzzles are fairly easy to do, and you can use the picture as your desktop background by going into wallpaper in the menu.

Tibet Quest is easy at the beginning but increases in difficulty later. With no option to play untimed, you are challenged to finish each level. The artwork looks as if it is made for young children but may be more for experienced matchers. There’s lot to do in this match game so you better start trekking through the jungles and tough terrain to find your Shangri La.

Features of Tibet Quest:
-65 Levels
-Search for Shangri La
-Find Jane’s Father

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

As in the first Miss Teri Tale mystery, Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is deep in mystery and political rivalry. Miss Teri after a successful run, with her latest novel, thanks to the kidnapped dog, Jason, is now fully immersed in her new life in Peeking Town and its suburban idiosyncrasies. She is helping her neighbors take care of their dog, filling in for the dog groomer, breaking in and searching homes. This time around she is more familiar with her neighbors but as in any small town there are always new people moving in.

Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is a hidden object Mac game with mini puzzles cleverly incorporated into the main play. You begin in Teri’s home searching for her notebook. The spiral notebook will list the hidden objects you must find in each scene. In every room there will be 3 clovers to find and use as hints. Next you will look for her cell phone. This will tell you how much time you have in your search. Then find the map and you can click on it to tell you where you are in the town. There is a set amount of time you have to search each scene, but this should not be a problem since you will have more than enough hints if you find the clovers.

A different seek and find play is not in a room, but on Teri’s computer desktop. You will need to find all the Jason files and put them away, and the emails will let you know what you need to do. The blue arrow in the lower right will take you to her diary. In addition, the ballot box will let you know who votes for whom.

There are a few action games in between the hidden object plays. When you get to Karma Pet Shop you are asked to take over the duties while the proprietor goes on an errand. You will need to bathe, dry, groom and feed the dogs. You must do it before they get impatient or you will be starting over again. As in the first game, you will be asked to figure out combinations on locks to enter someone’s home or locked room. There’s also a shooting game with anti virus nurses shooting computer “bugs” entering your computer one by one.

Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me is a fun hidden object game with a lot of side puzzles very similar to the first version. The scenes are clear, almost like photographs, and the objects are not all easily visible, but always enjoyable to search for. This Mac game is lively and interesting to play. Take some time and get to know the wacky characters in Peeking Town, USA by searching their homes and getting their votes.

Features of Miss Teri Tale: Vote 4 Me:
-55 Scenes
-Mini Games
-Who will become Mayor?

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mystery Stories- Berlin Nights puts you in the middle of a giant case involving unlimited renewable energy, beautiful reporters, World War II technology and Nazi escapees. Unlike most Hidden Object games, Mystery Stories goes above and beyond the usual genre and makes it fun and interesting to solve the puzzles, including the mini games.

What makes this game great is the ingenuity of the puzzles. There is the classic I Spy game mode, but even in these puzzles, there is something new. In the early levels, the game makes you look for something and perform the task within the puzzle. For example, one level has banana peels hidden throughout and one of the tasks is to throw these peels out. You click and drag the bananas over to the trash can in order to complete that task.

I also came across a couple of Hidden Object puzzles that were a little different from usual games. One puzzle had clues that slowly came up on the side that led you to look for a certain object. For example, if the clue was a baguette, the clues might be something like Long, France, Baked, etc. The faster you get the clue, the more points you earn. Another puzzle that was really cool was the sound I Spy. Instead of getting the list of clues, you get a list of sounds that the clues make. This is not as hard as it sounds, as the sounds are generally pretty straightforward (i.e. Frog, Drum, Radio).

The best part about these puzzles was the lack of clutter. Usually, these type of games have screens that are covered with small intricate little objects that you have to spend twenty minutes looking for. Mystery Stories- Berlin Nights is much easier on the eyes and hides the clues cleverly, instead of in a sea of objects. This is definitely a plus, as my eyes were not straining like they usually are after a game like this.

This was probably one of the best Hidden Object games that I have ever played. Besides the new and fun gameplay, the story was pretty interesting as well. You are a female reporter from New York in Berlin when you stumble upon some friends who are looking for a machine from a former German scientist who had to leave the technology for renewable energy to flee from the Nazis. It is your mission to find the missing parts and discover the mystery of Berlin. The only problem I had was with the slow load times, but that might just be my computer. This game is definitely worth the five stars that it deserves.

Features of Mystery Stories: Berlin Nights:
- Search the city of Berlin for clues
- 94 levels of mystery
- 14 bonus minigames
- Adventure and Free Mode play

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Come with Kivi the Lumen on a wild adventure to save his world from foreign and dangerous enemies. Kivi’s Underworld is an addicting game about a young warrior trying to save his race of Lumen people from the dreaded dark elves. He needs to leave his underground safe haven to rebuild the lost city of Defiance through dark tunnels and treacherous paths to bring peace and harmony to his people.

The story begins with Kivi, a young Lumen warrior, leading a disastrous and deadly mining expedition, and unfolding uncharted territories to uncover a mythical (or so they thought) race of dark elves. Kivi is the lone survivor who makes it back to his home only to find that no one will believe him about the elves. He is in a fight of his life and must do so alone. He needs to recruit Lumens and fight off the elves with limited lives and powers.

Kivi fights many enemies along his journey, including skeletons and zombies with fire mage, disguises and power-ups found along the way. Fighting in the game is very straightforward; you simply click on an enemy to perform a standard attack or right click to perform a special maneuver. To perform special attacks you must have mana which is regenerated as you walk around the game board or picked up from killing enemies. As you walk in the game and break open crates and barrels you will find magic power-ups to help you bash through crowds of enemies or avoid them through secret passageways. The range of extras can go from power strikes to bolts of lightning. There are lots of monsters, deadly traps, secrets to uncover and many different characters to choose from including different races of people with numerous story lines.

This slash and bash mac game is a follow up to Depth of Peril and reminds me of World of Warcraft and Runescape. This game has endless possibilities and hours of fun waiting for casual players with its ease of learning the moves or for the seasoned gamers looking for a high difficulty level to challenge their experience. The only negatives I found was the repetitiousness of the play and the sound and voice qualities. I give this game 4 out of 5 stars for its fast pace, exciting gameplay and interesting story lines.

Features of Kivi Underworld:

-Over 20 characters with different storylines
-Magical power-ups
-Lots of monsters, zombies and skeletons
-Deadly traps
-4 difficulty levels
-Great graphics
-Maps
-Easy to learn

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

With the popularity of the Twilight Sagas, both movies and books, Mac hidden object game Love and Death – Bitten is the next step to the vampire love stories. Damon is a vampire kept in a crumbling castle by an evil vampire witch. In order to satisfy their appetites, Damon must search the countryside for fresh blood. That’s what vampires do.

The local village is not going to take it anymore and is organizing to fight back or have their town destroyed. Damon is amused by all the ruckus down below when he spies his next victim, Victoria. However, he does not know who he is up against when he lures her to the forest. Victoria is the niece of the local politician who blusters his way through the story. Victoria is a headstrong, beautiful young adventuress who bravely goes after the vampire. Of course, she falls in love with Damon and helps him search for the potion he needs to rid himself of this vampire life and free himself from Celeste the vampire queen.

In this hidden object game you are Victoria during the day and Damon after dark searching for the needed potion to return Damon to a normal life. You play the HOG when a raven enters the scene with a list of items you need to find. Some objects must be placed to complete, such as the fruits. They must be placed in a bowl to cross out the item. The jars must be lined up to complete. There are many of these secondary actions to follow up on in a scene, but they do not distract from the main HOG play. The rechargeable hint button sometimes will only give guidance and is not all that helpful at times. The mini puzzles are the Fates way of testing your mental prowess because they are reluctant to reveal anything. You must look for 100 golden leaves in order to get answers. The side games are fairly easy but can be skipped if you need. The other seek and find plays will have you thinking a bit before you figure out what to do. Finding rocks and putting them in your inventory will prepare you to use them on the broken boat across the river.

Love and Death – Bitten is a familiar theme but will still intrigue you to look and search for the answers. The storyline will keep you playing until you finish, the pleasant voice acting is appropriate as is the music. The balance of HOGs and puzzles, even though you go back to the same scenes, is good with beautiful artwork. This game kept me interested and challenged with its many plays, but the ending left you wanting more. Sounds like a sequel is in the works.

Features of Love and Death – Bitten:
-Play Victoria by Day and Damon by Night
-Over 30 Locations
-9 Puzzles

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Everyone knows cats are needed for evil witches’ brews so it should not have been a great surprise when Orlando, Jasper’s favorite pet, is snatched by a wicked hag on a lovely, sunny afternoon. Jasper may not be your typical hero type, and he may not be the smartest, swiftest or the bravest person in his small hamlet, but he is loyal to his friends and must go on a treacherous journey fighting and avoiding monsters of all sorts to save poor Orlando’s hide in Mac game Jasper’s Journey.

This is an old time scrolling platform play that everyone can enjoy. If you are new to this type of arcade play, use the easy mode until you get the hang of it. There are 3 modes for all levels of expertise. Initially the game is easy going and no problem accessing hidden areas for fruits, coins, stars, gems, golden orbs and shields. The game progresses quickly and your skill will be put to the test with the many high jumps you must make in order to get all your supplies, keys and treasures.

The blocks at first are also easy to handle especially the spikes where all you need to do is time the jump. The gnome-like guards can be shot down with ease using the X key and speed through the stone throwing birds overhead. After a couple of levels, it does get harder and more challenging. You will find that you must keep going back to search for all your objects. Nothing is too good for Orlando. Jasper is risking his life for him over and over again. There are also locked and secret areas you must explore. This is part of the enjoyment of platform games like Mario and Sonic.

The play is the fundamental platform maneuvers with the arrow keys managing your movements, Z is for jumping and X is for shooting. The fruits will give you energy and you’ll need it since shooting will drain your energy. Garner all the golden orbs, shields and treasures to keep going in the game. The gold can be used in the inns to buy supplies like fruit and shields. Remember saving a game will cost you 10 gold pieces and there are 6 different potions to help you.

Jasper’s Journey is full of items and objects to get in all the high or underground places. Mastering the jumps will advance your play by many folds because all the great and necessary things are usually placed way up high. The level ends when you reach the blue dragon. The purple dragon will take you to the island for more items.

Jasper’s Journey is a retro, side scrolling platform fun play similar to Bud Redhead. This type of game has loyal arcade followers who enjoy platform games. Even the music is retro and familiar with nice background graphics to enhance your play. Take a stroll back to the arcade era and help Jasper fend off the monsters and big bosses to save Orlando from the evil crone.

Features of Jasper’s Journey:
-Hidden Treasure Chambers and Secret Levels
-Battle Monsters
-Flying Potions
-Magic Butterfly

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Styrateg is a science fiction role player game that takes place in an ancient alternate world. In this world there are demons and other subhuman monsters that inhabit the world. It is your job as a knight to help the king vanquish these monsters and try to return the kingdom to its prior state. Choose one of four different starting characters: Beranus the skilled warrior, Clath the elvish huntress, Madame Ogg the intelligent sorceress, or Theodorick the helpful monk. Each is strong in their own way, but also have weaknesses.

The game opens when you receive a letter from an old friend in a distant kingdom. There has been a terrible plague in the country and it has infected and mutated many of the citizens. Currently the king is fighting a war against evil magic and terrible creatures. The city of Cannachdun was overtaken by the horrible disease which has turned many of the people into “cruel unholy animals who feed on the flesh of their neighbors.” No one has been able to figure out how or why this has been happening but it is your duty to help out your friend.

After reading this letter, you must go to the kingdom and find out the troubles that are plaguing the rest. The controls are easy, it is a point-and-click engine with controls on the side to determine which skill you plan on using. For example you can attack or heal depending on your skill set as well as many other options that become available as the game progresses. The game has more than sixty different quests to accomplish, and when you combine that with the different starting characters, the game provides for countless hours of gameplay.

I do like RPGs but would not classify myself as someone who plays a lot of them. This game reminded me of an old Final Fantasy, because it had a strong fantasy atmosphere. I like that idea of games like this and for me, story is one of the most important things when playing an RPG. The controls were sometimes a little confusing, as I wanted to enter a building and the character would not be able to. I also did not like how it operated in turns even when you weren’t in battle. This became a little bit of a hassle when you had more than one character in your posse and had to move them over great distances, individually. Styrateg was a solid game, but could use a little bit of a tune up. I would give the game three out of five stars.

Features of Styrateg:
- An excellent RPG
- More than 60 quests through 20 unique levels
- Countless magical items
- Strong Fantasy Atmosphere

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Whether you are a classic or adventure (story) player, you will not be disappointed with Mahjongg – Ancient Mayas Mac game. From choosing your tiles and background scenes, the game brings a relaxing and enjoyable play to your day.

The story starts dramatically with Dr. Deanfield’s recent Mayan discovery dropped to the floor by accident and revealing one of the reputed tiles of insight. There are 30 tiles in all and the professor and his colleague are immediately assigned to an expedition to recover the other tiles. This begins your exciting journey through the dense jungles of Central America from the famed Tikal temples and beyond.

The play is to click on 2 free tiles. Tiles are free when there is no tile to the right or left. It also will be lit up with the unavailable tiles in the shadows. The object is to remove the tile that will reveal the most covered tiles. This will give you more options to match your tiles. The faster you play the more points you will garner so it behooves you to look ahead of each play to advance quickly. An addition to this game is you can match family tiles and not just identical ones. This mahjong game is a little different from many others because of its power-ups and bonus tiles assisting your play.

There is a joker tile where you are able to match it with any tile. An interesting bonus is the swapping tile where you can swap any 2 tiles’ positions. In swapping the tiles you must figure out the most strategic possible move to your advantage. The best tiles to use are the ones with the lightning bolts. When you match these 2 tiles the level is complete. However most of the time these tiles are buried underneath all the other tiles and are unavailable until near the end of the level. There are many other pluses in this game and it is fun to discover all of them. The only minus I found with the power-up tiles is that it takes a while before you remember what each symbol represents and how to use them appropriately.

Mahjongg – Ancient Mayas is a good way to spend some relaxing time. Once you get into this play you want to continue, and if you play the adventure mode, you want to find out if Dr. Deanfield and his lovely assistant find all 30 insight tiles and how they use them. The music is appropriate to the Mayan theme and the graphics are good. Take some time and have fun with this mahjong game.

Features of Mahjongg – Ancient Mayas
–11 Variations
-3 Difficulty Settings
-Create Own Levels
-300 Layouts
-Choose Tile Sets and Music

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Ben is in trouble and is worried about his beloved family zoo. He contacts his favorite niece, Anna, to help solve the problem. Someone went in and stole 5 rare animals, including Anna’s favorite elephant. Uncle Ben is in China and cannot get back in time for an official inspection of the zoo by federal officers on Friday. They will surely close the facilities if they find that there are missing animals. It’s up to Anna to find the animals and resolve the mystery in 3 days. This Mac game is a seek and find/hidden object/I spy play with many side puzzles.

The main play is the seek and find/hidden object game. You go from the zoo administration building to other locations in the town like the police station and local bar. The zoo director tells Anna that the police will not do anything about the missing animals without proper documentation. Unfortunately the paperwork is in the safe and the key to the safe is in the bottom of the piranha tank. Before you can get to the fish tank, you have to search for supplies needed to get past the flesh eating fish. The hidden objects are in the director’s office. When the cursor turns into a question mark you click to get information. If your cursor turns into a hand, you can use it to move the object to one side in order to see behind the item. The hint button will help you locate items you are searching for.

Incorporated in the main play are many mini puzzles to conquer. Fishing for the key is one such game and others are finding cups and plates for the bartender, sliding numbers in numeric order and a lot more. Another interesting play is the dinner plates with food outlined on it coming down a conveyor belt. You must select the food passing by at the bottom of the screen and click, drag the appropriate item to the platter before it reaches the customer. The plate must be full of food or the client is unhappy and you must start again. My favorite game is the donut hunt for the police chief. Some of the puzzles are simple and others are more difficult, but in any event you can skip some of the games and continue on the hidden object play.

3 Days: Zoo Mystery is not necessarily a hard game, but it is fun and I for one would like to find out what happened to the poor zoo animals. If you enjoy hidden object plays and a good mystery, try this game and solve the whodunit in 3 days and save the family zoo.

Features of 3 Days: Zoo Mystery:
-Detective Story Line
-27 Levels
-54 Mini Games
-Solve Mystery and Reveal the Criminal

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mac game Youda Farmer is an extensive, moving (literally) sim play. The game encompasses not only your farm with multiple products to sell, but it also involves the village where you deliver to the local merchants. Keeping track of all your goods takes some doing but the challenge is so entertaining and the detailed artwork of the Youda series amazing, it will keep you playing for a long time.

The usual sim play will stay in one location and build their farm up on that spot. This is the case in Farm Mania and Fantastic Farm. However, Youda Farmer moves in a truck (color of your choice) from each location on the farm to collect your produce and grains to the village full of shops and stores like the town bakery, pub and café. You may get a little dizzy from traveling throughout the countryside so be prepared. As you build up your farm with more crops and livestock, more shops will open up to support your farm. By doing so you earn more money to buy upgrades and improvements to your farm.

In addition to driving all over the farm and town, you need to click on the large eggs with party hats that appear magically throughout the countryside as quickly as you can so you can progress in the game. When you are delivering the goods to the vendors, you must also go to the Party Products to click on the eggs to finish pieces of a puzzle.

With each upgrade (chicken coop, pig sty, things to increase the speed of production, etc.) you have more actions to complete and more storekeepers to satisfy with your outstanding products. Although the play becomes quite intense, your curiosity is peeked and you can’t wait to see the next new product or the newest shop in the village. This Mac sim game is more involved in its play with you driving to many sites to work in order to meet the needs of the storeowners and still stay within your timeframe. Youda Farmer is a sophisticated sim play with you growing your produce clicking on the finished products such as flour or bacon, dragging them to the crates, loading your truck and then going to the village to deliver your goods. After arriving at the village you are still clicking on the storekeepers and delivering each product. In between all your maneuvers you must click on the party products.

Whew! This game will keep your interest and give you quite a workout both physically and visually. I didn’t think you could make a different sim farming play, but Youda Farmer succeeded. I don’t know how the Youda developers do it, but they come out with completely different plays each time. They do not do the cookie-cutter games that are all so easy to do, but they come out with original, creative plays whether sim, hidden object and others. If you are going to play a sim game, Youda Farmer is the one to do.

Features of Youda Farmer:
-Crops to Grow
-Upgrades
-Challenge Levels
-Bonus Games

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Recent School of Magic graduate, Maggie, is up for anything in life. She is ready to do big things and her family’s small farm is a great place to start using all her mystical knowledge to good use. Helping her parents run the farm with the help of magic will keep the sinister businessman from taking over the only home she has known. Her spells will speed up the farming procedures and help expand the business to other areas.

Mac game Fantastic Farm is a cross between Farm Mania and Mystic Emporium. Like these 2 action-packed sim games, Fantastic Farm has many aspects to this play from growing plants, shearing sheep and juicing fruits. As the level increases more activities are added to challenge your dexterity. You begin with 3 patches of beautiful blue flowers growing on your farm. In order to expand your growing surface you click on the shovel and magically it will dig up a patch of ground for you, click on the seed button at the bottom right of the screen to open up the seed selection, and then choose the type of plant you wish to sow. Click on the seeds then drag to the patches of turned soil to plant. For the most part the plants will grow on their own. Sometimes you will lose a plant and must reseed or the plant may need water. You will need to click on the well for water and then click on the plant. You start your farm by clicking on the empty crates 3 times to send 3 crates to the bottom of the screen, then click on the plants that are ready to be harvested. This will harvest the plants to the empty crates. Click on the barn to deliver to the customer. The client’s needs are shown at the top of the screen so you will know what to grow or make for the customer. By completing their requests, you finish the level.

This game is easy going, but challenging at the higher levels. Even if you do not make the goals on a level, the game just tells you it’s no big deal, try again. Have a go at it and cast magical spells in this colorful animated Mac game Fantastic Farm.

Features of Fantastic Farm:
-over 150 Levels
-Unlock Free Mode
-Trophies

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Fortune Tiles Gold is a delightful match 3 or more tiles to clear Mac game with a colorful Chinese theme. The Asian nature background is a beautiful setting for your relaxing play.

Instead of swapping 2 tiles on the game board you swap tiles with one you are holding on your cursor for the one on the board. Sometimes this gets a little confusing and you have to thing twice before you make a move. Also you must make matches on the tiles with the Chinese characters written on them. After you make the match, the tiles will be blank, and when you clear all the marked tiles the level is over. The tiles in corners and hard to reach sections should be tackled first in order to complete your level. When you make matches on the marked tiles, they will be replaced with unmarked ones.

A rainbow tile will appear next to 2 of the same color if no other are no matches. A black tile will make unmarked tiles marked again. A very frustrating move to have your blank tiles marked again. A stone tile cannot be moved and must be removed in a match 3 or more tiles. A hammer will remove a stone tile and will be available every 10 moves. When you match 4 or more with 1 tile being marked, it will release magical creatures such as cranes or butterflies.

Fortune Tiles Gold is a relaxing and enjoyable match 3 game with wise and knowing proverbs for your entertainment. It becomes increasingly more challenging, and with 160 levels this play could get very difficult, but with 3 lives for each level, you’ll get to do a do over to pass the level. If it becomes too much, there is an untimed portion to play. There’s something for everyone and the game should be fun for all. As an ancient once said nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Features of Fortune Tiles Gold:
-160 Levels
-166 Proverbs
-Timed or Untimed Mode

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

In my last match game review I said I enjoy playing just the match play without the story like Age of Japan, but then I came across Cradle of Rome with its building of that city. I find it to be an enjoyable Mac game. You build Rome one house and structure at a time.

To begin the play you choose Epoch Seven Hills since New City, Birth of Empire, Gladiators’ Arena and Age of Glory are locked. You click on adjoining squares to swap and make a match 3 or more pieces to destroy. You need to make matches over the blue tiles to clear. This will complete the level. The marble plaque must have 2 matches made to destroy that cell. The water jar to the right shows how much time is left.

In between the levels you can purchase houses and buildings for the city. If you have enough money from the matches, buildings will be unlocked. When the foundation of the city goes up, your status as a Roman citizen goes up.

The match pieces are gold for money, supplies for building and food for the people. When you complete a level quickly, you get a time bonus. The hammers at the bottom of screen, destroys one piece to help you complete the level.

This game is a very interesting match 3 game incorporating the building of Rome in the play itself. I think the additional buying of houses and buildings enhanced the match game. The bonuses give you extra units of supplies with every new level. I did miss the bombs and explosives of other games but it has the double matches and locks to challenge your play, and the levels get harder as you go up. Have fun building Rome from the ground up and create a beautiful city.

Features of Cradle of Rome:
-Build Rome
=8 Bonuses
-Over 100 Levels
-5 Eras

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Mac hidden object game The White House is an enjoyable and educational play for everyone. The premise begins when Miranda Hunt, a college student, is whisked away by the Secret Service to aid in their search for her missing history professor.

You will be searching the professor’s office and rooms in the White House. The scenes, because the professor is messy, are full of many items scattered throughout, some important clues and others just junk. If you find the all seeing eye (the one on the dollar bill above the pyramid), it will earn you more hints. If you need assistance finding an object, click on the name listed below and the silhouette will appear for you to search. If that’s not enough, then you can click on the hint button or the presidential shield.

The HOG list of items at the bottom of the screen will list in white letters the objects you need to find in the present room. If the letters are pink, then you need to go to the other view of the room by clicking on the navigation arrows at the top of the board. The purple letters indicates you need to do more to access the item from containers or added steps. You can tell by the sparkling lights where you need to search.

If you see the Fun Facts tab at the bottom left of the screen, you can click on it to get information about the object you just found. For example, the golf ball will tell you that Gerald Ford was known for hitting people in the head with a golf ball. The facts are short and interesting so it does not interfere in your search for the professor.

Since Miranda worked closely with the professor, she is the best one for the job in recovering the missing professor. She must retrace his steps, going first to his office and then to the White House, searching for his journal pages. Someone has torn the pages of his journal and scattered them in many locations. She also found the professor’s camera full of pictures. You must take his camera in some of the scenes and click the exact location of the film.

Other side games or mini puzzles are integrated in the HOGs. Busts of some presidents are hidden behind Masonic lockboxes. In order to access these safes, you must connect the light bulbs together to light up. As the levels increase so does the difficulty of the puzzles, even still these games are easy to complete.

The HOGs are also easy, and the items are mostly clearly drawn with a lot of hints to help you if you need it. This clue-based game with an absurd story of letting a young woman search the White House is still fun to do. You do not have to read the story since the characters all speak out loud, and the reading of the Fun Facts is short and simple. I still liked this game since it was not frustrating like some HOGs and it is relaxing and a pleasure to play. Try it out and search the White House for the missing professor.

Features of the White House:
-Many Objects to Search in the White House
-Mini puzzles
-Find the History Professor

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Flo is back in Dinertown in her biggest challenge ever. She is visiting her Grandma and resting from her hectic diner empire across the nation. Flo only wants to relive her childhood and have a relaxing time with Grandma. Her vacation takes her to the local zoo, and she finds, as only she can, the place in disrepair. What is happening? Apparently the zoo is not getting enough funds to maintain and upkeep a family friendly place. Of course, Flo is there to take charge and devises a grand plan to get her beloved zoo back in shape. Yes, you guessed it. She does what she does best. She works at the zoo café with Grandma to earn enough money to help the zoo caretakers develop an A-one location for family fun. This is just the beginning because little does Flo realize the entire town is falling apart due to lack of municipal funds.

The familiar sim play in Diner Dash Hometown Hero has added features right off the bat. In between levels you can choose to change out the look of the counter or floor of the diner. Flo’s outfit can be changed to meet the location’s requirements. This is similar to Flo Through Time where you can change her outfits depending on what time period she is in. Also a new item is the reservation feature to add more play to your already busy activities, and there will be new waiters to train and to help you in your work.

The play is almost the same as all the other Dash games where you click and drag the customers to the table with appropriate number of seats, wait until they put their menus down to take their order, click on the tab wheel to deliver to the cook, click on the food when ready, click on the customer to serve the meal, click on the empty dishes to accept payment, click on the table again to clear, and finally click on the dish tub to clean. As with all the Diner plays you must be fast even in the easy mode to complete a level. If they add a drink to appease upset customers, you must do so or it will not let you pass the level. The game will make you retry a level just for not giving an irate client a drink.

Just like Diner Dash, Diner Dash 2, Flo Through Time and Snack Pack this new Diner Dash version is full of extras and pluses to keep any fan entertained and happy. New players will have quite a challenge mastering the play, but if you stick with it, will find this sim play hectic but fun.

Other Diner Dash favorites: Dairy Dash, Wedding Dash, Diner Dash Seasonal Snack Pack, Flo on the Go

Features of Diner Dash Hometown Hero:
-50 New Story Mode Levels
-Reservation Feature
-6 New Customer Types
-Train New Waiters

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The third installation of Dreams Chronicles: The Chosen Child is here and proves to be just as engaging and mysterious as the first. As in the first Dream Chronicles Mac game, this one is in a dream-like state where the main character is uncertain at what is happening with many challenging puzzles.

The main play is the individual wakening in an elaborate tree house searching for, not only the exit, but also what is going on. The crystal ball, after rescuing it from a fire by putting it out with water, is the help for this game. Brenna is confused because Fidget in the crystal ball keeps calling her Faye. He helps her get out of the tree house by searching for needed items to make the sewing machine work in order to sew up the rug leading to the exit. In each scene you search for needed items to do whatever is needed to find the daughter of Fay and Fidget. She’s been taken, unbeknownst to Brenna, by the Fairy Queen of Dreams, Lilith. If you played the first 2 Chronicle Dreams, you know Lilith cannot be trusted.

The journal at the bottom will keep all the records of your dreams and dream-like things. Dream pieces are scattered in each scene to discover, and gold nuggets will get you higher scores. Just click on each object for information. Many of the puzzles will need to be done in a specific order for it to operate correctly, and others, all you need to do is put it together.

Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child is a challenging seek and find game with many side puzzles to solve. Once you finish the game, you can start again with the same name and you will discover objects will be in different locations changing the play somewhat. The graphics and sound effects are impressive as they were in the first 2 games. This Mac game will push you to solve these many difficult puzzles so you can find the answers to all the dreams.

Features of Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child:
-Dream Jewels
-Multi-Scene Puzzles
-Great graphics
-Secret Prophecy

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Reading the famous novel by Jonathan Swift, traveling the world in a yacht with your literary friends and seeing the sights of other nations are only a few of the aspects of Mac match game Travels with Gulliver. There’s romance and mystery in addition to all that and to top it off the match 3 games, jigsaw puzzles and wallpaper.

Even with all those things going on at once, the game is relaxing and interesting. The main play is the match 3 of the same item in groups or chains to destroy the blue tile. This part of the game is not challenging but fun to do. The usual power ups and blocks are present in this game. The hammer will destroy one token, the torch will take out tokens of the same kind, the bomb will blow up a group of items and the scepter will turn all of the same kind of tokens to wild. There’s also a shuffle button when charged will redo the board. The blocks are the gates, ropes, the chained gates (you need to make double matches to clear) and the double ropes.

In between each match level you will get a couple of pages of the novel or the main character’s (Sedona) journal. The journal will reveal the interactions of the yacht’s literary group, and when personal items go missing, a mystery ensues. If those things are not enough, each port stop will reveal interesting data about the city with a jigsaw puzzle at each country. It’s also fun to see the passport book get travel stamps from their destination ports. The main page will have the journal, novel, postcards and passport to view when you need. The artwork will produce many wallpapers for your computer.

Travels with Gulliver is a creative Mac game, utilizing the novel to combine the present day adventures of a group of friends traveling the route of Gulliver. I found the mini jigsaw puzzles, repetitive and could use other mini plays to breakup the match games. A deficient part of the game, unfortunately, is the match 3 play. It really didn’t have a connection to either story except it is nautical. If the developers could work on that and make it a little more challenging and include a swap match, I think it will improve the game. I give it a 3 out of 5.

Features of Travels with Gullivers:
-80 Levels
-Story of Gulliver
-Mystery and Romance
-Wallpaper
-Jigsaw Puzzles

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Swarm Gold is an outerspace action shooter that puts you in the pilots seat! Take your little space ship and try to collect all the EZT coins in your sector of the galaxy. When you have collected all the blue EZTs you can go to the exit portal, which allows you to continue on to the next level. Along the way, you encounter all types of obstacles which try and stop you from completing your mission. These include asteroids (large and small) and many different alien creatures. The creates you encounter range from the small and manageable Clag Scouts to the dangerous Clag Bots. It would be wise to avoid these aliens and especially look out for the Death Worms which is the most vicious, intelligent and deadly creature in the game.

There are four different levels of difficulty in the game (Kids Mode, Normal, Hard, and Insane). After you choose your difficulty, you can proceed on your campaign and begin playing the more than 100 different levels that Swarm Gold has to offer. In addition to the multitude of levels, there are all kinds of power-ups scattered throughout the game. These include shields, free lives and of course, weapons upgrades. The initial gun that comes on your ship is useful, but is also slow and needs time to hit the targets. You can find all kinds of other guns, like assault rifles, shotguns, autoguns, flamethrowers and mines that will aid you in defending your ship. Additionally the game has a multiplayer mode that allows for up to eight players. I am not sure exactly how this works but it seems like a cool idea and definitely is something that enhances the replayability of Swarm Gold.

Personally, I really liked this game. It was a simple point and click shooter, where shift propelled you into space. This was a cool idea but one should definitely use a mouse because the pad on a keyboard is a little cumbersome. I also had some difficultly avoiding asteroids, which pop up in inconvenient places. It is nice to have some obstacles, but when I am taking more damage from inanimate objects instead of the enemies, I think something needs to be changed. Maybe it was just because I wasn’t using a mouse, but that was a big problem for me. What I did like was the blue and red cursors that pointed your ship in the correct direction. The blue cursor led my ship to the nearest EZT and eventually the exit portal. The red cursor was equally as helpful, as it pointed out an enemy that was near. Overall, this was a solid game and I would give it four out of five stars.

Features of Swarm Gold:
-Over 100 Levels
-Enemy Aliens
-Lots of Weapons

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Alexia is dreaming about women walking in a daze toward a temple. Why are they sad and why do they all seem to know her? Their Andean Inca town is on fire. Why does Alexia dream this story every night? In Mac hidden object game Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess you must look for the answers to this mystery by flying to Cuzco, Peru.

In this hidden object play you search for items you may need later in the story. When you move the cursor to the sides the screen will move a little so you can search for your object. When the icon of the crown appear on the upper right hand side of the screen, it lets you know you must search for a piece of the crown. There are 6 hints to help you look for the listed items. You will definitely need these hints and more. If you need additional hints, hit the get hints button to take you to the mini puzzles. There are 3 doors to pottery, painting or doll making. In pottery you need to make the blob resemble the pot to the right. This took a lot of doing so I went on to the painting puzzle. You will see a simple painting with different colors. Remember each piece’s color and paint the outlined scene as you remember it. The last puzzle door is the easiest. It is a hidden object play where you find the dolls outfit.

Lost Realms: Legacy if of the Sun Princess is a basic hidden object play with an Incan story line. The scenes are a little dark, murky and some objects are difficult to spot, but will be enjoyable to hidden object players. The movement of the screen is a little annoying but manageable. Since the scenes are challenging, you will go through your hint buttons and will need more. Luckily, the game provides you with earning more hints in your quest for hidden objects.

I liked this game for its interesting tale of the Incas and Alexia’s mysterious dreams, but the hidden object scenes were not always clear enough to make out the items even with the hints. Although the music is appropriate to the scenes and story, it becomes laborious enough to want to turn it off. The fun part of this game is the mini puzzle section behind the closed doors. Similar puzzles are Coyote Tale or The Count of Monte Crisco. Try it out for yourself and find all the objects.

Features of Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess:
-30 Locations
-Hidden Object Play
-Mini puzzles
-Quest of Self Discovery

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Do you believe in reincarnation? Do you avoid stepping on insects since they could be your relatives back in a lower form to better their next life? Well, Soldak, the developers for the new Mac rpg Din’s Curse, do. The main character comes back to life to redeem his past corrupt and despicable actions.

In the game, Din the all mighty god verbally directs you, the low life who made major mistakes in your prior life, to get you to this indefensible position where you must justify and correct your misdeeds. As crazy as this setup seems, it works. You rally to the defense of your townspeople and fight to the death against the most ferocious of enemies. A terrific feature of this play is if you should die, Din will resurrect you to start again. Check out the descriptions of each bad guy on the website: http://www.soldak.com/Dins-Curse/Monsters.html. Soldak has detailed every little thing in Din’s Curse. The major feature in this game is the randomization of the world. Each town has it’s own set of problems and quests for you to resolve. Each one is a surprise, leading to hours of play time for gamers from novice to hard core. Also you can play as a single player or co-op multiplayer action game.

The game is time dependent and whatever you choose to do will result in either dire consequences or increased reputation. You will be instructed to go and kill Barry the Beast before he starts a revolution. You need to heed the warning and take care of this matter right away. There are other instances where you can put off, but it can be dangerous to do so.

As in most rpg games you must keep track of your health bars on the upper left side of the screen. The stats are available for you to peruse when you get a chance, and choosing the class of your avatar and the skills are important to improve your outcome in situations. From the skill sets you can choose your person to be a warrior, rogue, priest, wizard, ranger, conjurer or create a hybrid from 2 skill trees from any basic class. The only problem with a hybrid is that you are limited to 2 choices and with a template you get 3. You right click to to assign the skills and up and down to change it to one of the other skills. If you think about it, there are a lot of characters you can create and play in all sorts of combinations in randomly created towns.

Every time you begin a new game, the quests and layout changes. Every new character you make starts off in a new town, another dungeon and different monsters to battle. You can set the level for your monster’s strength, but this will increase as you go higher in the dungeon. Start with 0 if you are new to this type of play and higher if you are an expert. The range goes from 0 to 24, but be forewarned there are a lot of enemies who will come at you.

Not only are you battling monsters and enemies, you must also collect your loot in order to advance in the game. I think the best part of Din’s Curse is the story and reading into what you must decide on when told to act and act immediately or something dreadful will occur. Any warnings should be taken seriously or you will suffer for it. Be careful to stop any fights between your enemies or they will gain levels and champion status when they kill other groups. In addition, watch out while you are in the dungeon because enemies can escape to the town and attack the people. If you rush back and save the town, you can keep your reputation, but if you are slow to move, townspeople can be kidnapped or killed and this will cause you to lose reputation. The only upside to killed people is you can search them for loot—morbid.

Completing all quests for a town will save it and earn you a chest full of loot from Din. After the fireworks, you can go back to the dungeon and explore more or start a new town.

There’s a lot to do in this rpg game. Flip a lever to cause an explosion, use a poison trap or make the roof cave in on your enemies. The artwork is retro simple with a little more color than their other rpg Kivi’s Underworld, but it does the job. The play will surpass the background scenery. There’s very little music at the beginning with strange sound effects that create the eerie atmosphere of the dark dungeons. Invisible barriers are troublesome and will block you from moving, but you can make your way in a different direction.

Make your choices wisely because your actions will have impact in this random world of monsters and warriors. You need to pay attention to your surroundings and read the text. There’s so much to do in this game from looking for loot to fighting lots of enemies, including moles who can cause serious damage. Have fun with Din’s Curse. It is intense and full of many different options for hours of playability.

Features of Din’s Curse:
-Randomization
-Lots of Fierce Enemies
-141 Class Combinations

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars