oscar66 wrote:

I too love Griddlers/nonograms and never use hints. driven for that perfect finish.     I do not seem to have the same problems of solving the majority of them logically.  Yes there are instances where I have to take a stab at it but it's only when I've been down 2 to 4 squares in the same line/ column where its a case of either/or.  I find that happens in the Fantasy Mosaics and 8Floor but not a lot.

I've been picking away at Wolf Stories which I am really enjoying.  Its the only one that I've done colour wise that I like so far.  But it is totally different than the coloured Fantasy Mosaics. I wonder if BFG will get the new Gizmos.  Whoever has played it, is it more like Fantasy or Wolf Stories?

Hi Oscar  

I, also, normally don't have a problem solving nonograms logically, except where, as you said, you're left with an either/or situation.  However, Griddlers: Victorian Picnic is the second nonogram game I've played that can't be solved logically as you have so few numbers (a few ones per line) and no big numbers.  You have to keep using hints until you can get going with logic.  Some grids I solved without needing a single hint, whereas some I needed over 8 to start them off!  And the hints you get are in the middle of nowhere and are of absolutely no help whatsoever.  But this one is far worse than the other game where simple logic wasn't good enough.  I admit I don't have your patience for nonograms but I still don't think you can play these nonograms without either guessing or using lots of hints, which I don't find fun.  And, as I said, I'll only restart a level to get 3 gold stars if I've made a stupid mistake.  I won't bother restarting a grid if you need to use no hints to get 3 stars in a game where you can't simply use logic.

As for the most recent Gizmos ... Gizmos: Interstellar Voyage ... I just played a bit of that game, as well as a bit of Nonograms: Wolf's Stories (because I'd forgotten what both were like) and decided that Interstellar Voyage isn't like either game.

Nonograms: Wolf's Stories ... You have one grid with different colours, all on the one grid, and there has to be a gap between 2 numbers of the same colour but there doesn't necessarily have to be a gap between 2 numbers of different colours.  You also have to manually choose the colour you want.  The numbers are crossed off as you fill them in and the columns and rows are filled in once they're finished - but I'm not sure if you have the choice of turning these off.  The nonograms look like the pictures but you have to look closely as the blocks are so big.

Fantasy Mosaics ... You have several different colours but each colour is on a separate grid and each grid is played like a normal nonogram grid.  This makes it much easier than Wolf's Stories.  I think you can choose whether you want the numbers crossed off and the lines filled.  The nonograms look like the pictures.

Gizmos: Interstellar Travel ... Here, all the numbers are the same colour and so it's played like a normal nonogram grid.  The difference is that the blocks themselves are coloured.  However, they don't form a picture.  Rather, you just get random blocks of colour and don't realise what the picture is until you see the cartoon drawing (the picture is colour blocked).  There's also a story about ... interstellar travel! ... and, if I remember correctly, it's funny with funny characters and the music is really funky.   There are also jigsaw puzzles, although I'm not sure how many.  I've just finished the first group (a planet) and started the second group (another planet), and the grids are still quite easy, although the second planet starts with 20x10 grids.  It's a very fun nonogram but, unfortunately, as I think I reviewed last year when GH released it, you need your sunglasses to play as it glares when you have your cursor over the grid.  I can't stand it, it's so glaring.  The grids are also right down in the bottom right of the screen with no borders to the right and bottom, which I found really odd and took a bit getting used to.  GH says on the game page that people with Windows 10 were reporting problems playing the game and recommended a lower screen res.  I, however, had no problems unless, of course, the issue with the grid being right down in the bottom-right corner was a Windows 10 issue.

But you can always demo the game at GH.  You don't have to be a member.  And, if it still works, you may be able to get it at half price by using the code ... FAVORITE.

   (me and me sunnies playing Interstellar Travel - how do you like the Strine?)

And does anyone know what Strine is?


 

I have finished:
Queen's Quest 3- The End of Dawn PE. Rather bad. No SG which was needed sometimes!
Moai 4 -Terra Incognita PE. Very fun!
Secrets of Great Queens - Old Tower CE. Also very fun, and a handsome sidekick 
Puppet Show - Bloody Rosie CE. Actually very good! Long interesting Bonus game.
Glass Masquerade - International  Times Exhibition. Very good!!! A game bought on Steam. Glass pieces mosaics puzzle depiciting clocks from around the world.
Dead Reckoning - Death Between the Lines CE. Fun. But got tired of all the back and forth. Get an item in a room, open a box in another room to get an item you need in the first room!

Dexed Mystic Journey - Tri Peaks Solitaire after 47 levels. Too hard! You had to replay nearly every level several times just to be able to continue.

Stuesue, I agree with you regarding Victorian Griddlers. Some levels were hopeless, I also used a lot of hints, but I have OCD when it comes to griddlers, I must have 3 stars on every level 

Regarding the Gizmo's, I was a bit disappointed.It's not as good as the previous ones. I still have not finished it. I also have the grid in the lower right corner, and it's very hard to beat the developers best time on later levels.


I checked out Strine on the net 

Today's TGT ...

Secrets of the Royal Throne

by Apar Games (Mumbai, India)

I played this with my FunPass last July when it was released by GH so this review is just from my notes.

  -  took me about 3.5 hours but I always take my time, smelling the roses
  -  not very long but length OK
  -  interesting and different story set in India
  -  Indian developers who have been making online and mobile games since 2007
  -  I wrote - some different gameplay because it was originally a mobile game
  -  odd because if playing with touch you have to double click, which is hard to time right
  -  old fashioned
  -  graphics OK - beautiful but not today's 3D amazing graphics
  -  good music
  -  some challenging gameplay with some tricky MGs
  -  HOPs are all straight lists with no interaction
  -  but they're not boring as all are different and not too easy
  -  MGs are mostly easy
  -  but one harder, moving all planets to a central line - moving one may move others
  -  one really hard arcade MG - you have to use keyboard arrows!
  -  took me awhile to realise this!
  -  v. tricky as timing has to be perfect - but you can skip it
  -  you have to keep on restarting from the beginning if you fall off into the lava!
  -  one dreaded 3x3 slider - my nemesis - but I did it!
  -  help button not overly helpful
  -  eg. tells you where you can find something useful eg. in the tree
  -  but doesn't say where that location is eg. where that tree is located
  -  and there's no map!
  -  so sometimes difficult to find your way around
  -  especially around the palace and grounds
  -  the help button also stopped near the end
  -  kept on telling me to do something that I'd done 30 mins previously!
  -  and no walkthrough - and YouTube doesn't show entire game, so no help at end
  -  and when you get to the end and find the treasure (ancient knowledge)
  -  your character says that the best thing to do is to leave it there!!!!

Recommendation:  Definitely with a FunPass but only with a PCC, not with a GCC

As far as I can recall I had fun playing this game and I liked the different locations (India) and the graphics.  I also liked the gameplay.  It was certainly not up to the same standard as all the recent big developer games but it was fun and definitely worth playing with a FunPass or to get with a PCC.

But, as always, I recommend you first play the demo as it may not be a game you like.  But then it just may be!


 

Yep!   

Today's TGT ...

India Garden

by Rokapublish

The sequel to ... Chateau Garden

Gameplay:   a different type of M3

  -  there are lines of coloured blocks that lower every time you miss a match
  -  you shoot coloured blocks up, trying to make at least a match 3
  -  if you make a match all the coloured blocks in that match are removed
  -  the goal is to remove all the blocks before they reach the bottom
  -  you can switch the coloured block you're shooting for the next by right clicking
  -  there's a slow difficulty increase when things are added to block you
  -  you also get powerups as you need them when what they remove is added
  -  there are 80 levels
  -  it says 2 game modes - Easy and Normal
  -  but I don't think you can play in Normal until after you've finished the entire game in Easy
  -  because I can't see any other place to choose which mode you want
  -  and then you have to choose to "replay" each level separately in Normal
  -  you can get 1-3 gold stars - the fewer moves you take, the more stars you get
  -  there's a bar to the right that shows you how many moves you need for the stars
  -  you earn gold coins and use these to buy decorations for your garden
  -  there's a story why you're fixing the garden

PROs:

  -  fun, addictive game
  -  very challenging in the later levels to get 3 gold stars, even in Easy Mode!
  -  but it is doable (I've managed it) if you don't mind replaying levels over and over
  -  you need to try different strategies until you find the one that works
  -  so very strategic gameplay if you want 3 gold stars on every level
  -  it's fun doing the garden, if you like that sort of thing

CONs:

  -  you can't choose Easy or Normal mode until you've completed the game in Easy mode
  -  the garden layout in India Garden is exactly the same garden as in Chateau Garden
  -  I mean exactly the same!
  -  all they've done is change the choices you have for decoration
  -  the Indian garden is very colourful and over the top
  -  whereas the Chateau garden is a tad more understated
  -  there are only 3 choices for each decoration - trees, shrubs, seats, pavilions, etc
  -  the gameplay is also exactly the same as in Chateau Garden
  -  so the second game was obviously very cheap as they didn't need to change much

Recommendation:   Yes

If you've played Chateau Garden you don't need to play India Garden as they're identical, except for the choice of decorations, but even they are similar.

However, if you haven't played the first game I recommend this game as it's fun and challenging and different to most other M3s.

I own the first one (BFG PCC) but only played the second one with my FunPass, as they're too similar to own both.  But it was fun playing both and fixing up the 2 different gardens.