Emerald City Confidential Review
LA Confidential gone green? No, Emerald City Confidential, with the feel of LA in the first half of the 1900s with its seedy criminal activities, is a seek and find game located in the green Oz world of the future. References are made about the Lion, Scarecrow, Dorothy and others to keep with the Wizard of Oz theme.
You are Petra the tough talking P.I. in this busy metropolis who is investigating a missing person in addition to fighting with her enemies. In the prologue you are in the warehouse district, and your quest is to get Petra inside by finding and clicking on a crowbar to open the door, but before that happens she is sprayed with poppy gas and finds herself hanging from a bridge talking to Lion. Emerald City is very corrupt, and Petra is always getting herself in trouble investigating shady characters.
There is a knock at Petra’s P.I. office door and she finds “Dee” aka Dorothy Gale famous girl who flew into town years ago. She is trying to find her fiancé who is missing. Petra takes the case and she is off and running from site to site and back again. The Gump stand (resembles a bus stop) will fly Petra to the different locations within the green city. The journal keeps track of all her clues so refer to it when you need it. Whenever Petra encounters anyone there are always several choices of conversation to choose from which may or may not supply you with clues, and depending on which statement you choose will take you on a different path.
A side puzzle to this game is when she encounters a mule who is the bodyguard of one Miss Betsy Bobbins. Petra needs to get inside and question her but cannot get past the mule until Petra brings the 2 types of flowers Betsy likes.
Emerald City Confidential is an engrossing play with some delay due to the many different choices in conversations. The feel of a seedy, crime infested city is there and the dialogue is classic old time movie talk. I found the graphics amazing, but the play is at times drawn out and long when I just wanted to know what is going on with the investigation. Still, I would like to know what happens to Dorothy, the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow and will continue with the play to find out.
Features of Emerald City Confidential:
-Over 50 environments
-Solve Conspiracy
-Explore Oz
Rating: 
County Fair Review
There’s at least one county fair in every state in the US and each one has your typical rides, food stands, funhouses, haunted houses, and much, much more. In the Mac game County Fair is your chance to create your own ideal fair and make a profit running it.
Russ Pendleton’s last wish is to see his county fair business thrive, prosper, and make people happy. You are his only known relative who can make this happen in the Mac game County Fair. You will be provided funds from Uncle Russ, and will be assisted by Randal who knows how to run a fair. You need $3,000 to start so you can pay bills. The goals are on the right side of the screen, and the calendar lets you know how long the fair will run and you are off and running. You need to buy your rides (small, medium and large), and you need mechanics to build and maintain the rides. Then there are tabs along the top of the screen to switch from buying rides to hiring employees, food stands and advertising. You need the discount coupons, newspapers, TV ads to attract your guests to your county fair.
If all this is not enough for you, you get constant announcements that the health inspector will be out, the guests are unhappy with the cleanliness or lack of it, there is a security problem at the gate, and the worst one is that you do not have enough power for the rides and you cannot pay for more. When you get such an announcement, you must act quickly by clicking the red alerts to take care of the problem or adjust your needs such as more security officers, less medical staff and always more sanitation workers to alleviate any discomfort or violation at the fair.
All these problems and profits are beautifully graphed and outlined for you in the accounting section. You can quickly access how much you are making and how much you are spending. This game covers everything including awards and prizes you are winning for hiring 10, 20 people and other such winnings. This sim game is so realistic you get stressed out trying to figure out how to keep the fair afloat without going under. Don’t forget to raise your entrance fees for the most cost effective way to raise more funds. With practice and good math you can turn a profit and keep your guests happy with wonderful rides, delicious foods, clean environment, and a safe county fair.
County Fair is very challenging, but well worth the effort you have to put in to learn how to run a successful business. This is your traditional sim time management game in the lines of Roller Coaster Tycoon. Once the rides, food stands, shows and employees are in order and working harmoniously, you see your fair running like a fine tuned machine and your enjoyment and pleasure begins. Work hard and make Uncle Russ happy with his fantastic county fairs.
Features of County Fair:
-Rides and Attractions
-Set Up Confections
-Fairs All Over the US
Rating:
Youda Legend: The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond Review
The Youda developers have decided to make a hidden object game and have succeeded in creating Youda Legend: The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond. A sleek and mysterious hidden object thriller, you are a tourist that stumbles upon a giant mystery and must solve all the clues to proceed around the beautiful old city of Amsterdam.
The game is a hidden object game, so as with all hidden objects, you find the list of items that the game gives you. The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond is pretty average in this respect, as it is relatively easy to find some objects, but others are a lot harder to find. I like the mysterious diamonds that are dispersed throughout the puzzle, as they are fun to find and a mystery as to why they are scattered around the city. Besides the regular weird items, you also have to find some heirlooms and puzzle pieces (like torn map parts, stones, stolen pictures, rope pieces, etc.) that you use to solve a puzzle
at the end. This is the best part of the game, as it changes up the pace of the constant hidden object boards with fun and poignant puzzles that create a fun and mysterious plot. In addition, there is the obligatory "help function" that takes the form of a compass. This allows the player a little bit of help, but it does take a long time to recharge after a use.
Personally, I thought the game did really well. All the puzzles had great looking graphics and were generally easy on the eyes. The way that the game integrates the mini-games into the main hidden object game creates something that grabs the players attention and makes the plot interesting. Youda has definitely created a gem with Amsterdam Diamond and I would give this game four and a half stars out of five.
Features of Youda Legend: The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond:
- Explore the city of Amsterdam
- A thrilling storyline
- Challenging puzzles and mini-games
- Uncover the ancient curse
Rating:
Around the World in 80 Days Review
Around the World in 80 Days based on Jules Verne’s famous story about Phileas Fogg, who is challenged to prove that this travel can be done, is an entertaining Mac game for all who enjoy match plays. With more than 80 levels and adventure in faraway lands, seas and in the air, there is plenty of action and delight to be found in each scene.
The board game is your basic match 3 buttons or more to clear the board play. This game is particularly nice with the button items that make the matches easier to see than other games with cute crabs, turtles, swords, icons, masks, pottery or whatever. When you have many different looking pieces all over the play board, it looks like it is too much and your eyes race back and forth trying to make a match. Around the World has buttons in different colors with shapes just different enough to differentiate it from each other, but not so different to make the board look busy. The sound from making the match is also nice. I can’t explain it, but the sound effect adds to your play and is very important.
There are pieces of a puzzle among these buttons in the squares, and when they reach the bottom will fly to the outline at the left side screen. Once all the fragments are on the silhouette and the picture complete, the level is over. The picture will be an item you may need as a help in later plays. The items are placed in Phileas’ carpetbag located in the lower right side of the screen. There is another match board game where you change the background color to complete the level. Also the power-ups are similar to the hammers in Jewel Match and Jewel Match 2. However, after the spyglass hammer that can destroy all the same colors, there are bombs and fireballs to earn by making 4 or more items match. Depending on the power of the hammer and power-ups, it can do many things that will help you complete the level. You need to use the power-up in the lower left hand side since it does not carry over to the next level. You start with 3 lives to complete your game.
Around the World in 80 Days is an incredible adventure story and this Mac game did an awesome job with the many unusual cast of characters, the travel through all the countries, and the match game with its many new power-ups and great graphics. This is the adventure you have been waiting for so travel the world and have fun doing it.
Features of Around the World in 80 Days:
-Adventures Around the World
-More than 80 Levels
-Bonus Screensavers
-Great Story
Rating:
Create a Mall Review
If you enjoy creating new towns, real estate or a yacht harbor, this sim Mac play Create a Mall is right up your alley. You will be building clothing, shoe, jewelry stores and restaurants for customers to enjoy. Enhancements to the malls and shopping centers are also part of your duties and responsibilities.
Create a Mall begins with Riworld, a mall developer, hiring Kelly to revitalize ailing shopping centers and building malls to 
make a healthy profit. By doing so within their timeline, you will be given a bonus for finishing early. The play has all necessary information and data at the bottom of the screen listing goals at the far left of the boards. The tutorial is explicit and simple enough to learn quickly. Initially you will be asked to improve a shopping center by adding a few shops to increase its popularity. Click on the lease tab to open the file to access building stores such as a clothing shop. You click on that store and drag the outline to an available spot at the mall. Construction will begin and if you do not 
have enough workers, must wait until the building is complete before starting on another project. When you click on the stores, it will let you know if you can upgrade or not. It will clearly let you know what improvements you need to make so goals can be met. If you are short of money, labor or supplies you must wait until you have enough income from your stores to buy the necessary items before more construction can be undertaken.
If your mall has the same facades or you need space, you may need to demolish a shop and rebuild another more in demand store. By doing so, you increase the popularity of the mall and will meet your goals.
Create a Mall is very similar to Jane’s Realty or even Youda Marina. This Mac game may interest people who prefer to shop more than sailing enthusiasts. The play even includes bonuses where you can shop for items from the mall. In 
addition to the shopping, you can dress Kelly in all the bought clothes and jewelry. On top of all the bought goods, there are ribbons and trophies to decorate Kelly’s office.
The play is interesting but having to wait for the money to accumulate while the days pass quickly, makes the game a little too slow for me. If there is a bell after the revenue is collected, it might help the play along. Other than that factor the game is good and the shopping fun, especially after many more items are unlocked. Build your own mall and have a ball shopping.
Features of Create a Mall:
-Become a Mall Developer
-6 Different Cities
-22 Store Varieties
-More than 40 Medals and Trophies
Rating:
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