Whispered Secrets: Golden Silence CE

by GrandMa Studios

Touch (v. important to me)  -  perfect one touch!!!!  Yippeeeeeee!!!

Length  -  main game about 4 hours, 2 bonuses more than 2
              -  I thought the MG was longer but according to the timer it was about 6 in total

Extras:
  -  2 bonus chapters  -  really worth it  -  add a lot of depth and understanding
  -  Achievements
  -  Crystals  (collect all to uncover the city's history in second bonus)  -  really worth it
  -  Replay HOPs and MGs  -  but unfortunately not all
  -  The usual extras like music

Graphics  -  brilliant, superb  -  rocks looked just like rocks

Animation  -  amazing  -  crystal clear

V/O and L/S  -  very, very good

Music  -  very atmospheric  -  and very dramatic when needed

PROS:

  -  all of the above
  -  2 bonuses add a lot to the story
  -  they link the MG (1910) to the King in the MG (1400s) to how it all started (in the 1300s)
  -  HOPs and MGs  -  some easy, some thinky, some HARD!  -  lots of fun!
  -  also some MGs were very, very original or with a twist to the usual puzzles
  -  some had more than 1 level
  -  1 HOP in BG  -  1 object was hidden behind 1 object, which was hidden behind another
  -  have to remove the 1st b4 you can see the 2nd, which has to go b4 you can see the 3rd
  -  some of the crystals were very hard to spot  -  2 per scene
  -  zoom boxes  -  border looked like smoke and objects went outside the box  -  loved that
  -  loved the Spell Book in the BG
  -  you have to find the ingredients and put them on top of the pictures in the Spell Book
  -  then voila, you get a scroll to put on the object in one of the scenes to change it
  -  loved it and very a propos as set in 1300s when there was magic

CONS:

  -  can't replay all the HOPs and MGs! and they were so good!
  -  impossible to get one of the achievements  -  MG in under 3 hours
  -  unless you are able to replay the game with the same profile
  -  nothing extra to click on in the scenes  -  eg. birds chirping or flying away
  -  and get no extra info when click on the scenes, eg. background info

MY RECOMMENDATION:   CE

The SE would be fine as you get a definitive ending at the end of the main game, but in this case I definitely recommend the CE as the 2 bonuses really relate to the game and give you not only the backstory of the King (1400s) that you come across in the main game (set in 1920), but you also find out how it all began (in the 1300s) AND you resolve everything!

There's also a reason for the collectibles (you need them for the second bonus game and I loved the way it was done).  You can go back in the extras to collect any you missed.  They're all stored in separate baskets - one colour per basket - then you tip them into the middle and you do an easy puzzle (turn circles to form a picture) then you do a super HOP that's like one scene with inventory puzzles to resolve everything and set everything right - it's a real OH! moment.

I loved every moment of it!


 

Detective Ross - Episode 1 - A PI in Paris

This is an adventure game that, at the moment, is available at Gamehouse but not yet at BFG.  It's not drawn but is a video with a few really simple HOs thrown in that only had a few objects to find.  It's really different and thus interesting to play - and set in Paris, which is always a plus - but it's less than an hour and so, if you don't dawdle, should it ever get to BFG you should be able to play it in the demo hour.  It's also very slow and not very exciting and only just whets your appetite as far as the mystery goes.

Recommendation:  demo definitely to experience something totally different and you should be able to finish it within the hour demo, but definitely not to buy.
 

Venn - Overlapping Jigsaw Puzzle  by  Wiggles 3D

This is another game that is available at Gamehouse but not yet at BFG.  It's a very different (at least I've never seen it before) jigsaw puzzle game.  I love doing physical jigsaw puzzles but I've never liked doing them online (unlike my mum who loved them) until this one.

Instead of differently shaped jigsaw pieces, all the puzzle pieces in Venn are circles that overlap (hence the name Venn if you remember your Venn diagrams in high school maths).  You can start with only 12 pieces (Beginner) or up to as many as 110 pieces (Expert).  The circles simply overlap vertically with just a little horizontal overlapping. I think there are something like 600 puzzles in various categories like cats, horses, food, birds, flowers, trees... 

Playing in Expert mode, as I'm doing, is really hard as the shapes of the puzzle pieces are of absolutely no help, and you may have a field of sunflowers with nothing else, or a bowl of walnuts, or a red bird in closeup with nothing but a blurry green background.  So far I've averaged about 20-25 mins per puzzle, with the hardest one so far taking about 50 mins.  You just note something that's different at the top or bottom of a piece (maybe there's a yellow dot) and try and find the matching piece among all the other circles.

Recommendation:  I love it and highly recommend it.  I definitely recommend you try it even if you don't like playing jigsaw puzzles online, like me.


 

Griddlers - Beach Season  by  8floorgames

Another one that's only available at Gamehouse at the moment but which I'm sure BFG will have soon.

I've started this one.  It's another Griddler like all the others with nothing new. 

Recommendation:   Fun to play with a FunPass in dribs and drabs but as there's nothing new I would only recommend you buy it if you want another one to play or love them and have an expiring PCC with nothing else you want to get.
 

Pirate's Solitaire 3  by  8floorgames

I'm currently playing this one - available at both Gamehouse and BFG. 

It's a really hard Match 2 solitaire game (remove cards by matching card values) and is fun to play but brings nothing new to the genre.  The following review by pennmom36 at BFG sums it up pretty well:

pennmom36 wrote:

I love solitaire, but this type of solitaire is my least favorite. The goal of this game is to remove two of the same cards regardless of suit, NOT a higher/lower solitaire game. The reason I only gave this game 3 stars was because there are so few available matches that it's almost impossible to receive a perfect score. In fact, I replayed each hand several times attempting to get a perfect score, but no matter how many times I replayed the hand, I couldn't get enough matching cards to achieve this. I gave up replaying and just hit the continue button for each hand, and at the end of the 10 game level, I didn't have enough cards to progress to the next level or deck, what fun is that? I love a challenge, but......

 There are 12 different card designs, and 3 different face cards available within the settings option. You receive 1 point for removing cards, which also fills the multiplier bar for extra points. Some of the cards are bonus card which have more points or bonuses to help you win. You will automatically win the hand if you remove all of the Gold cards, even if regular cards remain on the board. You can use the money you earn in the shop to purchase Joker cards (wild cards) Shuffles and mulligans which are undos. In the event of a perfect score, the points you earned on that level will be added to the next hand.

 Perhaps you'll have better luck winning at least a few levels, than I did. I just don't think it's much fun when you can't win because there's never any available matches. 

.
My Recommendation:   It's fun to play (although super hard to get perfect scores) so great with a FunPass but I'd only recommend you buy it if you absolutely love this type of solitaire game and want another one or if you have an expiring PCC and no other game you want to get, as it brings nothing new to the genre.