The Scruffs Review
Edward Scruff just got laid off. Despite his upbeat personality and love of movie quotes, he must now sell his house in order to make ends meet. Luckily for Mr. Scruff, his helpful but messy family is around to help him in his quest to save the family home. Grandpa Scruff has a secret that he says could save the home, but he cannot remember what it is exactly. With the help of the rest, including the dog Scruffy, the family can find clues around their cluttered home to help reveal the mystery and make some money to save the house.
The Scruffs is a hidden object game that incorporates a hidden family secret into the plot. After completing the first two levels, you discover a cryptic, like the one in the Da Vinci Code, and each subsequent chapter discovers a new number on the device. To discover what is going to happen, you must complete the entire game, which can take awhile if you are not quick. Luckily for those who want a stress-free challenge, there is a timeless mode in addition to the regular game, so you can enjoy the puzzles at your leisure.
Within the game, there are other mini-games that keep you entertained. One that I came across was the scribble challenge, where you have to pick out the new scribble drawn on family pictures to earn a gold star. Once you beat twenty of these challenges, you learn another family secret (what kind of mysterious family is this?). Another challenge that was enjoyable was the scrambled picture challenge. This challenge is self-explanatory, as all you have to do is piece together an old picture to discover new clues.
Overall, this was a pretty good game. The graphics were cartoonish, but worked well in the grand scheme of the game. I did like the dialogue as well, maybe it was just the British accents that I liked, but I thought it added a charming quality (like Mary Poppins) to the game. Also, being a movie buff, I really liked the dad's constant movie quotes, which were funny and timely. Gameplay was consistent with other hidden object games that I have played in the past and the help feature was good because it provided a hint without giving away the object completely. I would give this game four out of five stars.
Features of The Scruffs:
- Meet the zany Scruff family!
- Inviting story line with witty banter
- Unique Hint Mechanism
- Mini Games
Rating: 
3 Days: Zoo Mystery Review
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: 
Xplorer Review
Xplorer is an appealing and well-executed hidden object/I spy Mac game for all die-hard fans of this kind of genre. The sceneries are magnificent and clear. The music is dramatic and appropriate for the pictures.
The hidden object play is the usual listed items you need to uncover and click on in each scene. Some things are more difficult to spot than others so the helps do come in handy. The magnifying glass will reveal many objects for you. If that isn’t enough, try clicking on the battery and the flashing lights will steer you to the item. In this game there is a 
scrolling machine to unveil more of the scene. I found going back and forth a little bothersome but minor in the scope of things.
When reviewing games I usually play it for 30 minutes, and if I’m not crazy about a game, I will go back to it to see if I missed something, and many times I end up liking the game. However Xplorer gives you only 30 minutes of demo time which extremely limits your play. If you are like me, I read the instructions and everything related to the play. I didn’t even have time to enlarge the screen to full size since I couldn’t find the options button. I really did not want to waste my precious 30 minutes looking for options or reading the instructions.
From what I could tell Xplorer’s scenes are exquisite and challenging. I did not enjoy scrolling the pictures while looking 
for the objects. The helps are good and plentiful if you find the extra battery in each scene. I think with lack of a story, this Mac game is for hidden object enthusiasts who are looking for a challenging play. I couldn’t relax and enjoy the game more because of the 30 minute limit.
Features of Xplorer:
-Photo Illustrations
-Scrollable Scenes
-Magnigying Glass and Detection Tool
Rating:
Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess Review
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:
The Tarot’s Misfortune Review
A stranger, late one night, is at the doorway of Rosalie’s humble abode and there’s also mystic music sounding all around. The mysterious man demands a tarot reading before he would leave so she consents to do it. The tarot cards never lie and hold bad news and danger for him, but he turns it around and says that she is the one in danger in Mac hidden object/seek and find game Tarot’s Misfortune.
Before she knows what is happening, she blacks out and finds herself in jail without her precious tarot cards. She must find some way out of the prison and find out what happened. This begins your adventure into the hidden object and puzzle plays. The game play is the usual 
hidden objects search in various scenes where there are a lot of scattered items. The difference in this game is the scrolling scene where you go either to the right or left and the scene will move to reveal more of the screen. It’s like the Mac game Xplorer. The listed items to look for are at the bottom of the screen, and the names in blue can be found readily sprawled in the scenes. However, the gray items in italic letters cannot be found yet. You must do something to them before you get to your final object. The objects you will need to perform another act will be placed in inventory for later use. Also when you see a blue glow, you know there’s more to do. Keep your eyes on the globes on either side of the list, it will indicate how many objects are in that scene. If you scroll away from any area, you’ll see that the stars will either decrease or disappear. This is a great help for finding the objects, even though most of the time, you will not need help. The hint button recharges quickly and you get as many as you need. On top of finding the objects listed, you must also find Rosalie’s tarot cards. There are a few in each scene.
The mini games are also the usual puzzles where you must figure out combinations to either enter a location or get into a storage area. In addition you will encounter 2 tarot cards where you must find the difference in order to move on in the game.
The story continues after Rosalie escapes the prison across the countryside, in the town center and many locations. She finds the village people are enslaved by the wicked magician, and only she can save them. That’s about the extent of the story line. The artwork is exceptionally beautifully drawn, but the music is repetitious and got on my nerves a little. I turned it off. The HOG part of the play is easy except for the items blurred in the mist or sized differently. Luckily the developers are generous with their hints.
I heard some people had trouble starting this game, but I didn’t have any problems. Try the demo and see if you can help Rosalie save the town from the evil magician.
Features of The Tarot’s Misfortune:
-Many levels of Hidden Object Play
-Great Artwork
-Scrolling Scenes
Rating:
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