GGG - Featured Game

I've changed the banner a couple of times lately, but did not announce a new Featured Game, simply because they were games that I had recently posted reviews on.

Now we have an older game that I'd like to spotlight - one that was ahead of its time in the world of IHOG's, and still stands up today: Deadtime Stories



This is one of my eldest's favorite games, which she played through three times straight, and has played a couple of times since. It has an unsettling story, which in part featured the real-life woman Delphine LaLaurie. The graphics are gorgeous, the gameplay adventure-esque, and the story is engaging, to say the least!

As you can see, we have to make some potions, and for those who worry about such things, I do not remember harming any creatures during gameplay -- including other humans.

Deadtime Stories was set up to be a series of different stories, and I really wish that I-play had continued with the project (I'm just assuming that they haven't, since this one was released in 2010). This is an excellent game, and I highly recommend it!

We have a new featured game today:
Night of the Scarecrows

My favorite part of this game is the opening and closing cutscenes. Quirkiness abounds, and I love it!


As you probably guessed, this is an arcade-style match-3 game. Click on groups of matching scarecrows to get rid of them, and don't let any reach your farm!

Find more game-specifics in my review, HERE.

We have a new featured game at last! In honor or the season, I'm giving thanks for GOG's 5-for-$10 sale on.... Drumroll please! ... Botanicula!

I have been coveting this game since I did the demo a couple of months ago. It's delightfully quirky, beautifully rendered, and in all a gorgeous reminder that point-and-click adventures are still a wonderful way to pass the time.


The game is by Amanita Design, the company responsible for the Samorost games and Machinarium (which I will be adding a topic for shortly).

I hope to play and review the game properly in the next couple of days. In the meantime, why not try it for yourself? Just go to http://amanita-design.net/games.html and you can do the demo online!

I'm taking a break from the winter-themed game shots to do an actual featured game.

Anyone who's played the game knows what Glitch is already, but for those who never got a chance to play this MMO, it was a quirky, funny, and sometimes touching game that was community-driven. You may have noticed that I said "was". Sadly, today is the final day in Glitch's existence... the game ends for good as of eight o'clock this evening (PST).

To honor Glitch's memory, I'll be featuring the world of Glitch with a new banner every day. I could probably go on for months this way, and never repeat a graphic style, but I think that 10 days will be sufficient for everyone to either get a taste of what the game was like, or to remember fondly the world that was.

Rock on, Tiny Speck! We former Glitchen salute you, and hope for the best in your next endeavor!

My eldest pointed out this morning that I've put the wrong credits on the banner at the top of the page... It's Chimeras: Tune of Revenge, not Tune of Death Whoops!

Since we're talking about it, I REALLY enjoyed this game. It hasn't been long since I posted my review, but in case you missed it, you can read it HERE. This is one I'm really glad to have gotten the CE of, an excellent game! The graphics in the banner are actually from the bonus section

It's been a long time since I did a featured game, but it's mostly because I'm so behind on my game-playing! You might have noticed that I've been using banners from the game Margrave 4: The Blacksmith's Daughter, and I will have a few more from this game during the coming week.



The screenshots don't show how beautiful the graphics in this game really are. The reason for the use of cyclopes in this story is a bit thin, but it works out well, as long as you read all of the story tidbits you come across, so keep that in mind! One of the early mini-games, which you will come across during the demo, is a bit lame, but don't let that put you off -- the rest of the mini's are much more challenging and fun!

I really enjoyed my time playing this game, and highly recommend giving it a try~! You can find my full review HERE.

It does look beautiful, genki; very warm colors.

It's time for another featured game, this time being the first
Nightmare Realm.



I was not immediately drawn to this game when I did the demo (of which I only played about 10 minutes,) but I bought it anyway, based on friends' recommendations. I'm so glad I did! This is a beautiful game, which is heavy on the adventure and light on the hidden object scenes.

The gameplay is very much like Dreamscapes: The Sandman, also an excellent game. I ended up really loving Nightmare Realm, and highly recommend giving it a try.


You can see my full game review HERE.

Today's chilly banner is the end of my Nightmare Realm feature.  Did anyone notice that my current avatar is also from Nightmare Realm?

I haven't thought of a new game to feature yet, but if anyone has any requests, just let me know~!

We have a new featured game, this time
Brink of Consciousness 2: The Lonely Hearts Murders



Since I just finished reviewing it a couple of days ago, I won't wax poetic about it here, but I do want to mention again how incredible I found the game.  You can see my review HERE if you missed it, and the banner will change every couple of days to reflect different artwork depicted in the game.


Enjoy!

We haven't had a featured game since June, so it's about time for a new one!  Between my gaming funk and the fact that I was having trouble finding banner-worthy images in the games I was playing, that would explain the delay, but still...!

With no further ado, I present to you our newest feature:
Curse at Twilight: Thief of Souls

This game is truly challenging, and very well made.  Something that bugs me in games is when the devs choose to use the same color palette on every single location in their game -- the same tones whether inside, outside, or a hidden object scene.  I'm all for having a uniform art style for a game, but you can do it without making everything look the same... which THIS game proves!  I have seven banners that I'll be sharing with your over the next week or so, and you'll see what I'm talking about.  We go to so many locations that look different in every way, and yet it all gels together into a cohesive, non-jarring whole.  Beautifully done!


As you can see from the screen above, we also have some interesting puzzles!

This adventure/hidden object/fragmented object game is unlike most of the fare we're used to, but don't let that put you off.  Check out my full review HERE and see what you think.  You may be surprised! 

Well, folks, that's it for the Curse at Twilight feature.  I hope you enjoyed the various artwork that's been displayed over the past week, and we'll have another featured game as soon as I get some new screens and figure out which game to share!

The artwork was GREAT!

I kept asking myself "how can she do that?". Extremely well done!!! Are you an arty person in RL?

lol~ Yes, I am.  I drew my eldest a picture of one of her celebrity crushes (Damian McGinty from Celtic Thunder) for her high school graduation:

It was the first time I'd tried to draw anything in nearly 20 years, and I'd never done anything with pastels or colors before.  She LOVES that picture, and that's what matters

Computer graphics-wise, I have a lot of experience due to designing for Zoo Tycoon 1 (user-made creations) for five years.

Wow! Seriously cool. I am soo jealous!!! You seem to have real talent genki  

Um, excuse me for changing the subject, but what does localisation mean?

Localization is when the companies translate into other languages.  Sometimes they don't do a very good job   Some of these developers are overseas, and English is NOT their first language.  Some companies do a great job (Playrix, which is based in Russia usually does well,) and some companies do a terrible job -- it just depends on how good their translators are, and how good the beta testers are.

ah, thank you, i knew that most games had to be translated i just haven't heard that term for it before.  

I now present a mini-feature on
Ghost Towns: The Cats of Ulthar.



This is a really GOOD game that never got much of a chance, as there was implied violence towards animals... except that things are not as they seem, and NO animals or creatures were harmed in the course of this game, save for a single butterfly.

I really enjoyed this one, and it deserved more attention than it got.


For my full review, click HERE.

I thought I'd do another mini-feature, this time focusing on

Cruel Games: Red Riding Hood



This is one of the games that I feel really didn't get the attention it deserved.  Cruel Games is -- as you'd imagine -- a creepy tale.  From the gameplay to the graphics to the story, it's immersive and fun to play.


You can see my review HERE and JustTheFacts' HERE.

It's time for another Featured Game, and what better game than one that takes place on Halloween night?

Shadows: Price for Our Sins is one of the only casual games I've ever seen where the main character actually sounds and acts scared by the events transpiring around her.



This made the beginning of the game pretty intense  , and though this heart-clenching feeling does not last throughout the game, it is still an excellent offering in many ways.

The story is rich and complex, the mini games different than we usually see, and the overall gameplay excellent.


I highly recommend checking out this engaging game!  Check out my full review HERE.

Playing it now and really enjoying it!! 

Cool art genki!!

Thanks, Justie!   I've got enough (from Price of Our Sins) to last for five more days~

Well I am disappointed! This game has been really fun, although it has some annoying errors like, for instance, some game instructions are completely wrong (for different games), some misspellings (i.e. "check" for "chalk"), other mistakes. But I'm totally willing to overlook b/c the game has been pretty fun to play.

But now I'm stuck. In the boathouse HO scene, I can't open up a box b/c the game won't allow me to press the correct buttons. (That is, I can press them but the game won't recognize that I have.) So I can't get the necessary items to progress through the game. I have closed and re-entered the scene. I have closed the game and re-opened it. I have checked the walkthrough. Nothing works to get me past this glitch. At this point I'm not willing to restart the game because I'm right near the end and I've put so much time into the game already. I'll try again later but may have to chalk this game up to a waste for me.

Oh yes, I had that problem, too.  How did I get past it...? 

*thinks*

Oh, right!  I'd hit one of the buttons before I had the whole "code", and didn't realize that one of them was still depressed!  Make sure you have the right three depressed, then make sure that none of the others are still pressed down!