Kuros Review
Kuros is an adventure point and click, puzzle solving Mac game. There are some hidden object games where when you click on the scene, you will get a wheel of outlined objects you must search, find, click on, and drag the item to the silhouette. 
You play as a young woman who cannot remember who she is and where she is. Thus begins your search for her identity and why she is in this strange world. You can click on as many items you wish since this is a point and click game. You will combine the many objects you pick up along the way and use them for tasks or puzzles like putting the color gems to light up and open doors. Once solved, it will access different things. Be sure to take your cursor to the edge of the screen because many times an arrow will appear taking you to different scenes. In order to reach your next destination, you must collect all the map pieces. Once collected, you must put it together in a jigsaw puzzle.
There are many puzzles to solve before you can advance to another location. In order to reach the Oracle’s tree house you must complete 4 slide picture puzzles. Each completed puzzle will give you a land mass and get closer to the tree. If you wish to skip a puzzle, you must 
find a Scrying Orb in a scene. You may have to go back to the first few environments to find this and other helps you will need along the way. The Chromatic Lens will reveal random hidden objects. However, these helps are few and far apart, not to mention you do not know what they look like. Use these helps wisely and do not squander them because you do not want to do a particular puzzle. Most of the puzzles are not difficult and can be solved by a little logic like guiding the ball through the maze. The wand comes in handy for lighting the way in a dark room. Once you figure out how to light the room, you will no longer need the wand.
Kuros is not a particularly long game, but has a lot of puzzles you need to solve logically. I get the feeling that there is a sequel coming soon. I wouldn’t say this is a hidden object game because most of the time you are just point and clicking your way through until the next mini puzzle. However it is an adventure looking for this woman’s identity and whereabouts with original and creative drawings to look at. The voice over is fine and since you can click on the written words, you can move quickly by the story if you wish. I am both a puzzle and HOG person so enjoyed the mini games but wished the hidden object part could have been extended to searching for listed items. Try the demo and see what you think.
Features of Kuros:
-An Adventure Story
-Many Objects to Find
-Great Graphics
-A Lot of Logic Puzzles
Rating: 
Letters from Nowhere Review
Mac game Letters from Nowhere sets the scenes for an interesting search for a lot of stuff. In other words it is a good hidden object play. The story begins with Audrey being followed by a stranger on her way home. Once there she waits for her husband, Patrick, who does not show up. The police are unwilling or unable to help so she starts the investigation on her own. Not entirely on her own. She finds letters 
from nowhere and thus begins her adventure into the unknown. Who is writing these notes, are they from her husband and what is she getting herself into?
As mentioned before, there are a lot of cluttered HOG scenes with a few mini puzzles. The HOG scenes will have the list of items you need to find at the bottom of the screen. Some of the objects will have to be put together to cross off the list. For instance, doll is listed but 
you will need to find the head and body to put them together before it will be removed from the listed items. The hint button is the magnifying glass to the right of the list and recharges quickly, however, if you use it, you will be lose a lot of points. You’ll lose more points if you click on too many wrong items. The points are important since you can unlock bonuses with them. One such bonus is the thermometer. When you find the thermometer in a scene, it will register hot/cold when you are close or far from a listed object.
The few puzzles in this game are easy to do and not very challenging. There are jigsaw puzzles and memory games. If you do the mini 
games and not skip them, you will win a collective stamp. There’s a Trophy room for all the awards you win. In addition there are 3 stamps in each scene. If you find all 50 stamps, you unlock the Unlimited Mode at the end of the game.
Letters from Nowhere is a good solid HOG. Its not too easy and you may need to use the hint button, although it will cost you. However, it is not so hard that you will get frustrated. The artwork is good and the sound okay. The side games do not distract from the main play and the awards and stamps only add to the play. The story, however, did not engage me that much and the ending left you hanging. I guess that may be the whole point and you have to wait for the sequel. I give it a 3 out of 5 for all the scenes and objects.
Features of Letters from Nowhere:
-Good Hidden Object Plays
-Find the mystery of Patrick’s Disappearance
-Trophy Room and Stamp Awards
Rating:
The Clumsys 2: The Butterfly Effect Review
This sequel to The Clumsys takes up with Grandpa returning home from the past in his homemade time machine, only to find he brought back a dead prehistoric butterfly. Everyone knows when you disturb anything in the past, it alters everything up to the present. This is proven by the historic photos Grandpa keeps on his wall to make sure he doesn’t change anything while time traveling. Helen, his 
daughter, takes matters into her own hands and decides to go back to the past and make things right again.
The Clumsys 2: Butterfly Effect is just as good and enjoyable as the first hidden object Mac game. The historic facts are brought to life when you search through Thomas Edison’s home looking for pieces of the famous phonograph. After searching rooms for all the pieces, 
you must put the machine back together again. These subtle historic facts are fun to experience in this detailed hidden object game. The items you need to find are pictured on the screen. After finding all the pieces, you recreate the broken inventions, and then you must remove the things that do not belong in the past like cell phones, cassettes and other more modern gadgets.
There are many discoveries by man and Helen has her hands full finding each one to repair and make correct. After a few inventions, you get the hang of putting things back together again using simple logic. Whenever you move your cursor over an area and it changes to gears, you need to exam that area closer.
Much of Clumsys 2 is reminiscent of the first Clumsys and could get tiring after awhile, but the educational aspect of both these games are 
great for children. I liked the facts that were given for each invention or discovery. It brought back memories of many hours of studying but in a pleasurable way. The hidden object part of the game is not challenging, but still a hoot to play. If you should need a hint, they are available and interesting in their own right. The artwork is good, clear and entertaining (unlike some other HOGs where you can’t make out the item). The sound effects are appropriate and Grandpa’s ranting is very funny. Enjoy yourself going back in time and re-inventing the many innovations of mankind.
Features of The Clumsys 2: Butterfly Effect:
-Help Helen Correct History
-30 Puzzles
-90+ Scenes
-3 Gadget Tools
Rating:
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:
Dark Tales: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat Collector’s Edition Review
Dramatic introduction, eerie music and bloody scene starts off your adventure in Mac hidden object/seek and find mystery game Dark Tales: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat Collector’s Edition. The play will draw you into the dark and seamy side of the mind of Edgar Allen Poe and the many facets of his writing.
You play a detective working with an inspector Chevalier Dupin investigating the disappearance of a Sarah Davies the wife of Mark Davies. Even though she has been missing for almost 2 weeks, she has been seen in and around her estate with a black cat. In fact, you saw her in the window of her home with the black cat. Confronting Mr. Davies at the front door about his wife being seen at the window only brings indignation and denial. Why is this husband acting so strangely? What is he hiding? Why is half his house in such disarray? These are only a few questions you need answered to find the missing woman.
To begin your play you choose from regular mode where the recharge for the skip and hint buttons are shorter and the hidden object games are twinkling. In the expert mode the hint and skip buttons are longer and the active areas are not shown. There is a tutorial if you wish to use it. The note book at the bottom right of the screen will give you written information. There is an inventory file where your 
found items will go for future use. The hidden objects to search will be listed at the bottom of the screen and when you find an item, it will cross off the file.
There are many locked areas where you must figure out how to open it by using tools or pieces from other areas to use. You will be going from scene to scene and back again. Sometimes you will return to the same environment for another hidden object game. You feel like you are unlocking one door after another. There are many puzzles to solve and most of the puzzles may need pieces from other rooms before 
you can begin to solve them. The cursor will change to an eye if you need to inspect it closer and will change to a hand when you need to grab and keep an item.
Dark Tales: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat Collector’s Edition is a solid HOG/seek and find with many puzzles. The artwork is good and the music appropriately creepy. Unfortunately, the story didn’t engage you enough, HOG scenes are repeated and it seems you are always trying to unlock something. I give it a 3 out of 5 for a good game.
Features of Dark Tales: Edgar Allen Poe’s The Black Cat Collector’s Edition:
-6 Chapters of Hidden Object/Seek and Find Games
-Puzzles and Mini Games
-Walkthrough and Bonus Adventure
Rating:
Pages
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