Dangerous Games:  Illusionist CE

A Ghost ...... or ..... an Illusion???


The storyline is definitely different than the usual drivel we've come to expect lately.  Sorry DEVS and those who have played great games .... this is the REAL first demo I've had time to play.



20 years ago, the Samuel-Taylor Hotel hosted the First Illusionist Championship.  Unfortunately, a HUGE fire destroyed the Hotel, killing only ONE person ..... the WINNER of the Championship.  Now, 20 years later, the 2nd Illusionist Championship is being  held in the same hotel  ..... newly refurbished and you've been personally invited to cover it.



The graphics are amazing.  All the little nuances of magic are clearly visible ...... when they are supposed to be .... lol.  The voice overs were good, as well.  The music was neither loud nor intrusive to the game play, which I appreciated.


There are 4 levels of difficulty, including "custom" - but READ each item to be "unchecked/checked" in this mode VERY carefully.  For instance, do you want a repeated click penalty?????


There is a transportable map, although the "hint" button will transport you as well.  You will ultimately find "truth" goggles which will reveal secrets passages and hidden tricks, but have never had a chance to be tried out ... by the inventor.


The HOGs (hidden object games) seem to be both silhouette AND quite interactive so they do keep you busy.  The mini games seemed to equal the HOGs, IMO, and did not seem overly difficult .... although some could take patience and perseverance.   Patience is NOT a virtue I possess - sigh.


Before the first contestant even has a chance to perform, the red-masked man (the "ghost"?) appears and .... chaos ensues!!!  The guests are even trapped by a now-bricked up exit!!!!  OH NO!!!!!


The game play has some interesting features.  For instance, you can interact/talk to characters who are NOT necessarily main characters in the game ... pretty cool.  You get to perform some magic tricks yourself - WAY COOL!  


Included in the CE Bling besides the Bonus Game are 20 Morphing Trick Cards .... not always easy to spot.  MORPHING CARDS!!!!   Ok ... I am ALMOST sold on getting the CE now - lol.  Oh, yeah, the usual wallpapers, music, etc. is also included with a strategy guide - those things just aren't important to .... moi.


Is this truly the work of an angry ghost? (Wouldn't that be a poltergeist?) or is it all something more sinister and all an illusion???  Or, perhaps even a combination of both???  I tend to over-think things.  lol


I highly recommend this for everyone ..... yes it is a fairly easy game .... but the entertainment value is PERFECT for any age or experience.


Join me in attempting to discover the TRUE magic behind the magician's illusions in this game.

ENJOY!

Overall Impression:  I beta'd this game and really enjoyed it.  The magic we get to perform ourselves, as well as the magic going on throughout the demo, kept me interested AND entertained.  Although there were only 20 MORPHING cards to be found, it could indicate a short game.  I have to reserve my decision of SE vs CE for a later date.  But, it's definitely worth trying the demo.
 

Escape from Lost Island

The storyline very basic.  Your on a cruise ship when it catches fire.  You need to get OUT of your cabin (NOT an easy task) .....only to find the ship is on fire .... which YOU apparently need to put out ...... everyone's gone already ...... but you need to get the last lifeboat into the water (NOT an easy task) ..... and it just continues from there.


The graphics were not great.  At times, the background was so dark the objects were difficult to find without using the "help/hint" button.  I muted the music so I can't comment on that.  No voice overs at all but a LOT of reading.  Without the music, it made it very tiring to play.  In fact, I found myself falling asleep - lol.


There is NO tutorial.  NO difficulty modes.  No .... anything.


The object of the game is basically to find objects.  For instance, you begin in your cabin when you realize you need to evacuate the ship.  In order to do so, you must find a sheer PLETHORA of objects.  On the bottom of the screen are 5 circles.  Click on one of these small circles and a larger circle will appear on the screen with several objects around it.  You need to find THOSE objects.  Finish THAT large circle, click on the next smaller one on the bottom of the screen and complete the process again .... and again .... and again - 5x ..... in every scene.  It gets .... boring ..... fast.  Especially since there's NO color, whatsoever, in those circles of objects you need to find.


You progress to the outside of the cabin to find the ship on the fire and repeat the above process.  Repeat the process again when you find the lifeboat and again when you reach the island and again and again and again.  Boring.


This game is NOT entertaining at all.  The mini games appear after each "level".  A "level" consists of completing a scene/room by finding everything in a "circle" 5x.  Boring.  But, the mini games were fun, innovative and sometimes required patience and perseverance.  Definitely the best part of this game.


Because of the non-entertainment value of the game.  The boring storyline.  The boring game.  This will NOT be a purchase for me.


I recommend it for anyone to try.  It's just not MY cup of tea.


[b]ENJOY!

Overall Impression:  Try it.  If you like finding hidden objects without much of a storyline and lots of gray color ... this might be the game for you.[/b]
 

Hidden Expedition:  Smithsonian Castle (CE AND SE)

Having lived in Maryland for a long time, and working in D.C., I am very familiar with the Smithsonian so was excited for this game to be released.  I played the beta, the CE AND the SE versions.


The storyline got a little muddled.  At first, it was the daughter being sucked into time travel accidentally as a child ... but then ... later into the demo it seemed there was more going on, but you never got enough of WHAT that more was.  It was totally confusing for me.


The graphics were great!  Down to every little detail.  I turned the music down (puppy) but the sound effects were also great.  Voice overs - mediocre IMO.

There were 4 modes of difficulty with awesome names like "Agent", "Field Agent" and "Awesome Field Agent" or some such thing - lol.  My notes aren't with me right now - lol.  Each mode of difficulty had the same various options that could be changed - that's a new development.  But, be careful in "custom" mode.  Read EACH option carefully as you MIGHT want to UNCHECK multi-click penalty - lol.


Ultimately, you get a map but I found it confusing to use.  Instead of a journal/diary you have a "box" from the "H.E.L.P." organization that contains your tasks and where you can pop in info/fact cards about various things in the Smithsonian that you collect (both in the CE AND SE versions) - pretty cool if you're into that.  There's also a very awesome thingy that can tell you who a person is once you enter their picture.  yes, it has a name ..... but my notes aren't nearby!  


HOGS (hidden object games) - OMGosh!  SO varied.  I don't think I did the same thing twice during the entire demo!  Silhouettes, picto-words (one picture plus another picture = what word then find that word), FRAGS (find fragments to put together an object), and MORE!  So much fun!


Mini Games were new and innovative and fresh.  Even some that seemed like "same old" were brought up-to-date and made more fun and entertaining!  With all the things you had to do during the game play AND the mini games included, I'd say combined .... mini games outweighed the HOGs.  In my humble opinion.

Aside from the usual "bling" the CE has collectibles AND morphing objects which would usually make it a DEFINITE buy for me .... usually .... but maybe not so much this time.


If you are interested in history (the fact cards) or LOTS of "facts" regarding items in and about the Smithsonian (again, the fact cards you collect in both the CE and SE), this would be the perfect game for you.  I think beginners will enjoy this game but I don't know how hard it will be for experts.  I'm intermediate and thought it was really easy.

There seems to be a LOT to do all the time during this demo and I really liked that.  But, after playing the demo 3 times (beta, CE AND SE), there was still no "WOW" factor ..... for me.  I was so disappointed in that because I desperately wanted to love this game.


IF I purchase it .... it will probably be down the road and more than likely the SE version.  Not worth the expense of a CE even with all the extras.  Where is that "WOW" factor?  


Please try this demo.  It has soooo much to offer in terms of history and great factual finds.  You may even enjoy the storyline - lol.  Hop into the time travel drama and see if YOU can figure out ..... just what's going on.


ENJOY!


Overall Impression:  A good game with LOTS to do which I LOVED but there was no "wow" factor.  Even with the collectibles and morphing objects I'd recommend the SE over the CE for this one.
 

Solitaire Perfect Match

I don't believe I've ever "met" a solitaire game that was quite so ..... unusual.  All you do is make matches (i.e., 4 and another 4, King and another King) with bonuses for having the same suit or even color!  No Hi/low or anything else.  But,...... it's certainly enticing and made me want to go back for more ..... and more ..... and even MORE!


The music was upbeat but not annoyingly so.  The little mustachioed man gives the impression of "hmmm ... sly little devil .... better watch out for him."  But, I'm not even really sure you see him again.


The colors/graphics are bright, easy to see cards (for those of us who are of the more mature persuasion)  .I could not see where the card backs, etc. could be changed.   Too bad.  I'm also not sure WHAT i get so many rewards for or why I never have enough coins to purchase upgrades or help.


So, you see, I can't really tell you anything at all!  Except, it kept me quite unusually involved in the game play and I HATED (and I dislike the word "hate") when the demo ended!  Will this be a purchase for me?  YOU BET!  If for no other reason that to figure out ..... just what makes this game so appealing!


ENJOY!

Overall Impression:  There is just SOMETHING about this game that "grabs" you ..... so hold on to something close and tight because I think you'll get swept away too!


 

Puzzle World 2013

Guess What????  This game isn't a PUZZLE at allllllll - RFLMAO!  


The graphics were astounding. The buttons huge and easy to read and manipulate.  I can't comment on the music or sound fx as it was late and I kept it all quiet (sorry).

I don't know that there was any kind of storyline either.  No map.  No journal. No nothing.  Not really necessary?


I would have LOVED this game, except I didn't understand it.  I mean, I understood the games well enough, but the instructions on how to get any game started was completely lost to me.  The 2 or 3 games I DID get to play were by sheer accident.  NOT exactly how I like playing a game what should have been so simple. 


Word Search, Hangman, and LOTS and LOTS of more types of games to play ..... but I just didn't know how to get past the "instructions" to actually PLAY the dang game!!!!!!   It should NEVER have taken me an hour just to figure out all the "a, b's and c's" of a game (so to speak).

I would have purchased this game in a heartbeat    ..... if I could have figured out how ...... to  ....... play ..... each...... type ...... of .......game.  Instead, it was awkward and not very entertaining.   I felt brainless and stupid and not very big in the "smarts" department when I KNOW I usually am.  I just wanted to "play" these games that either singularly or a a group looked like to much fun!  But, there were no instructions that were worthwhile.  Not instructions on how to play the games, I didn't need THOSE!   .... Those types of instructions were were fairly ..... standard.  But, once you got beyond the instructions ..... then what?  It was soooooooooooo frustrating!


For these reasons I simply cannot recommend it much less purchase it.  What a HUGE bummer!

Give it  a try ..... if you dare.   And, if it turns out you CAN figure it out ....... well, have fun and

ENJOY!


Overall Impression:  I wanted to LOVE this game.  I truly, truly did ..... but I couldn't get around all the buttons and up and down and cross-ways and .............. bleh!  Try it, though, you're probably a LOT brighter than I am and it will be a go for you!