Hidden Object: Home Makeover (HOG)
Simple options for this one: Sound on/off, Full-screen and Normal (timed) or Relaxed Mode.
Story:
You want to become a designer, and your grandparents - thinking it's a great idea - invite you to come stay at their place and fix it up for designing practice.
As you finish each scene, you'll get a handy household tip (they really are very helpful tips!)
Gameplay:
I wanted to try this because it looks so much like the original
Gardenscapes (which is not available on Steam).
Home Makeover has a LOT of similarities, including the basic premise of holding garage sales to make the money you need to purchase upgrades for your home.
I recognize the music from another game, and it is absolutely driving me crazy that I can't remember which one it is!
Hidden Object Scenes (aka garage sales) are your major source of income for the game. They are all randomized junk piles with cookie cutter items that are used on every scene. HOS repeat but the objects will be in new places when you return. There are at least two gold coins hidden at every location, as well as an Origaming logo (15 total) for you to find.
You can zoom in on a scene by holding down the Ctrl button.
Customers come in looking for specific items, and these can be either pictured or written out. Each time you fulfill an order, the customer will leave behind some coins to pay for it. Collect up to four piles of coins at once to get a multiplier bonus. Ka-ching!
Although I'd like to say that you just keep getting customers until you run out of time, there is a limit to how many people you can serve in one day. I'm not sure that there's any benefit to playing on timed mode besides the satisfaction of beating the clock.
In addition to the HOS gameplay, there are also
Match-3 minis where you can earn extra money by finding a certain item. You have to dig through things by making matches, and when you find the item, you have to make it drop to the bottom of the screen to collect it. In timed mode, you have a limited number of moves you can make. The round ends when you either get the item, or when you run out of moves.
Extras - four different modes of quickplay, each with 3 difficulty tiers (harder tiers have greater rewards):
- Classic - Choice of finding by word, silhouette or picture
- Memory - 15 seconds to memorize 5 objects which you'll need to then find on the scene
- Survival - See how many scenes you can get through in 5 minutes
- Memory Flash - Brain training! Memorize the layout of a room, then click to start. The scene will flash, and one new item will be added. Find it, another flash, and another item will be added. Rinse and repeat.
Verdict:
I've got only about 30 minutes of game time in this one, but this is a game that you only play in short bursts. Since it's a straight HOG with almost no story, it's easy to put down and come back to later. I'm guessing that I'll be playing this one on and off for weeks.
I like the challenge of trying to fulfill 4 orders at once to get the money bonus, as well as having 3 design choices per household upgrade. A simple game that is great to play when you just want to chill out for a while.
