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I don't play any of those FTPs but Found has been around quite awhile. I haven't spent money on a FTP yet, if I did I would spend a little in the beginning to increase my energy.
I just played part of the new MCF Key to Ravenhurst demo last night. I didn't care for it at all, nothing special about it. I didn't get all the way through the demo yet, but no super puzzle so far. There was a nice progressive scene I enjoyed. It just didn't seem like MCF and especially not a Ravenhurst installment. Didn't even seem like a good Eipix game. If it were just a regular game I wouldn't buy it but seeing as it's Ravenhurst I probably will, but only on sale, lol.
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That is quite the list of free to play games that aren't being updated anymore. Myself I think f2p is a flawed concept. Why pay money for a game when it is literally free to play.
I have a android tablet and I don't like playing games on it. It constantly needs to recharged because the battery drains out so fast. I hate using my finger to move things on the screen. Maybe a stylus pen would work better, I don't know as I haven't tried one yet. What I have on it is [bPatchworkz[/b]...I am never fast enough to get the time star, even though I can get it on the computer. Burger Shop 2...I love this game on the computer - on the tablet it gets exhausting plus the pad of my pointer finger feels sore after a few rounds. A word seek and find game...This is not bad for the tablet. I tried 1 HOPA and moving around it was awful so I deleted it quick.
wendy...I thought Elephant did those super puzzles really well, just as good as BFG. It will be interesting to see Eipix take on Ravenhearst.
oscar...Congratulations on finishing Castle...Yay!
lilyr...I read a review on Escape the Lost Kingdom and I gather that a lot of Egyptian based games came out around the same time and when this one came out it was like Oh No, not another one. I'm still liking it and made it to chapter 4 and the family is together once more and trying to find a way to escape the pyramid. The hint system stinks is just says that more things need to be done is this room, but once you do everything in the room it will tell you Location Cleared. I sort of lost my way in the pyramid and got stuck for a bit until I found the right room.
The Hidden Object Picture Show 2 I think I will give that one a miss. An annoying MC and things that keep repeating doesn't sound like fun.
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According to the last financial statement issued by Churchill Downs, freemium games (FTP's) generated more revenue than the traditional premium games (SE's and CE's). And mobile games made more money than the PC/Mac games.
People who are playing on their phones are usually playing away from home, using small stretches of time to get in some gaming while they are between tasks at work. They don't have 20 minutes to wait for a life to recharge in Gummy Drop, they only have 5-10 minutes to play and they want to play NOW. So they pay for some extra lives.
The people who are playing the HOG FTP's are mostly people with health issues and they are shut ins. They have all the time in teh world. Out of energy? No problem, they'll play mni games to make coins to buy energy while they wait. They'll sell things at auction to make coins. They'll go play one of the other FTP games. They'll go fold laundry. They will do just about everything but spend money.
But the developers don't work for nothing, and BF doesn't pay the devs to make games so that people can play them 24/7 without spending a dime. So the games that aren't making money get cancelled.
I like the idea of a long-playing potentially never-ending game, but I think it would have been a better idea to offer these games as a subscription (pay x amount to play for a month) or to have provided a stripped down version to play for free and have additional material (new areas, new characters, new quests) that needed to be purchased.
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I bought the Dream Day Anniversary Pack from Best Buy (6/09-19.99) and got DD Wedding, Married in Manhattan free with purchase of Best of Slots CD the same day. Started the latter one but never finished. Only one I have from BFG is DD Wedding Bella Italia. No telling when I will get around to playing those. I was just getting into actively playing games on a regular basis back then.
oscar, I saw that you had finished Castle ~ my bad for not remarking on it. One you can now forget forever!!
Seems like FTP has run its' course and they're all bailing ship because no more easy profits. I think mobile gaming will run its' course too because even on a good sized tablet, it leaves a lot to be desired. When I first got my IPAD, I was disappointed in how frustrating it was. On POGO, they have started having a lot of HOS games like Amazing Adventures, Clair Hart, Clue and if I have to play one for a challenge, I have to make it full screen just to be able to clearly see the items. To get more episodes, you have to buy gems and people are plunking down lots of money to play those episodes. I just play the free ones over and over for any challenges in those games.
I'm playing Maze right now and it's not keeping me glued to the computer. I'm enjoying it but no way is it scary although I have jumped a few times. I have Scratches too and would like to try it someday.
Since my DGD has been here a few days for the last 3 weeks because church summer camp ended and school didn't start till today, we have been playing Emerald Tale. She calls it her "boom boom" game (she's 8). After I installed Windows 10, when we went in, it was "Game Paused" and couldn't do anything. Just deleted shortcut and went in through GM and it started right up. We got to one of the last few levels, up to 282 out of 300 coins needed to go to last planet, and literally could not move. Once when I could only move a little, it said "Game Over" and I lost my accumulated 13 million points but it let us go on until I couldn't move anywhere because there were no more runes popping up. We decided to start over with each of us having a game and I'm keeping a detailed list of each level (did this before but got off which level we were on so may have missed something secret). This is one of the most fun games I have played on BFG since I can go in an out and play a few levels whenever.
I have Escape the Lost Kingdom and my sheet shows I started it and I vaguely remember a game where a family is split up inside the pyramid. I thought it was part of the Escape The Museum series which was one of my first games to play completely through on BFG. So so many good games to get to - need a twin to play them all.
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Big Fish Casino was the first FTP game offered at Big Fish and it's still going strong and is the #1 revenue producer.
Don't judge FTP and mobile gaming by the track record of HOG's and HOPA's. Those games are best played on bigger screens, but there are other types of games that play great on tablets and phones.
If anything has run it's course, it's the HOG/HOPA game. Customers have demanded more and more features, and those features cost money, but the price people are willing to pay for those games hasn't changed.
I think there could be $ucce$$ful HOG/HOPA FTP. I think BF customers would understand if they could only play a game so far, and could play that bit over and ver again for free, but had to pay for extra content. It's a game mechanic that closely resembles the free trial/like it and buy it scenario that is already in place with regular games. It wouldn't be much different than purchasing the sequel of a previous game.
I think people will pay for extra exclusive game content, provided it is predominently game play. All BF had to do was look at the CE's. Most people said keep your concept art, music, strategy guide, etc. Give me more game to play for the extra bucks.
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sunshinej -- I think ESCAPE THE LOST KINGDOM was made by the ESCAPE THE MUSEUM folks, but i could be mistaken. I'll probably buy it at some time. Try the HIDDEN OBJECT SHOW game. I think my problem was that I played the first one and didn't leave enough time between it and the 2nd.
Tirama -- The 2 MMOGs I played were both subswcription. You could play limited parts for free but there was a lot you could only get if you subscribed. I suggested subscriptions to Monika very early on. She said she'd pass it along but I don't know if she did. The 1st MMOG I played was BFG's FAUNASPHERE. There was a lot there you could play for free but a subscription got you more stuff.
tee -- I'm not sure why I didn't like DDW: VIVA LAS VEGAS. I was definitely looking for a straight HOG and that fits the bill.
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lilyr wrote:
Tirama -- The 2 MMOGs I played were both subswcription. You could play limited parts for free but there was a lot you could only get if you subscribed. I suggested subscriptions to Monika very early on. She said she'd pass it along but I don't know if she did. The 1st MMOG I played was BFG's FAUNASPHERE. There was a lot there you could play for free but a subscription got you more stuff.
I think Monica passed it on. Either BF didn't like the idea (and it wold have required modifications to their all financial software, which could have proventoo costly), or Monica just passed it on to Chris and Allan. Sounds like what they hoped to do with their Kickstart project.
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I am thankful that people spend tons of money on the BFG casino game. I believe that is what is giving us a lot of our sales. They may be poorer in pocket, but I am saving money on the reduced prices and BOGOs offers.
I finished Escape the Lost Kingdom, so I agree that it was a short game. I finished it just in time because Friday I start a group play for Whispers: Revelation and Saturday is Awakening: Redleaf Forest.
lilyr...I did just try Millionaire Manor: The Hidden Object Show. You must save your grandpa and 3 or 4 other contestants who are locked up in cages. You spin a wheel and it stops on a category like find 10, silhouette, list or put 2 items together (like burn letter) you click on a letter and then click on the fireplace. That is all I got so far, but you can tell that there is more categories to come. Music is very repetitious...I thought it reminded me a little like a Alfred Hitchcock movie. I don't know which one...it has a race against the clock sound to it.
Very quickly I saved the first contestant...a girl scout. Then maybe 2 or 3 other ones then it is grandpa's turn. It looks like a game that you need to pick at over time. I didn't care for the HO scenes very much. Hard to spot the items.
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Tirama -- BFG had subscriptions for FAUNASPHERE, which was their game. so I don't think their programming would have been a problem. I think subscriptions were mentioned in the BFG Forums for ART and AK too.
sunshinej -- Hmmmmm. I don't think I ever tried MILLIONAIRE MANOR. But after getting pretty annoyed with HOS 2 I may just have passed on it.
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lilyr - I never playedFaunasphere. For some reason, I'm thinking it involved Facebook. I wonder if subscription games might be a problem for android and iOS tablets/phones. Maybe all the monetary transactions have to go through amazon or google (android) or Apple (iOS).
I just finished another game, Off The Record: Liberty Stone Collector's Edition.
I like this series. The puzzles weren't difficult but they are presented nicely and there's always a lot of collectibles to gather. The hidden object scenes are varied: interactive lists, silhouettes, x amount of some object, they include morphs, and puzzles.
And for people who are tired of cute or not so cute animal helpers, there are none. In fact, I don't think I've played any Eipex game that had a helper. But I've only played more than one game in the Final Cut, Dead Reckoning, and Off the Record series so far.