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Casual Games Thread

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Joined 2017-04-14

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That’s grand, Tim.

Cheers Smile

     

Total Posts: 221

Joined 2003-11-10

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From the previous post I get the impression that, contrary to regular AGs, there’s no classic top-10 list that most people would agree on.
I wonder why, if that’s the case…

Thanks for your answer by the way, Tim, and for reminding me that there are demos out there. I haven’t been on the Big Fish site for a long time, because casual games are not my prority, but I’ve been seeing cheap bundles on Steam recently, which is how I bought Karthala.

And thanks a lot for the offer, dumber. Right now I have so many games on my plate I don’t think it’s wise to add casuals unless they come with stellar recommandations (and I’ve already played the 1000 doors), lest they just stay on my todo forever.

     
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Joined 2004-07-12

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I think if you look at the Casual Playthrough list you will find games that would rank on somebody’s top ten. There are four or five that would rank on my top 20.

I think the reason why it is easier to create a top ten list for adventures is that most adventures are one-off. I.e. there is no Grim Fandango: Part 2 or Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon: Episode 5.

Whereas the opposite is true in the field of casual games. I have often commented on this thread that a game “franchise” almost invariably starts to go downhill after the second sequel. Ergo, you start to notice a diminished quality in episode 4 of any game. The Puppetshow franchise is now in game 15 I believe.

Plus, casual games are, for better or worse, being cranked out at an advertised rate of a new game every day. It’s impossible for anybody to play a tenth of the new games produced, let alone rank them in a top ten environment.

I would certainly rank Phantasmat, Angelica Weaver, Dire Grove 1, Enigmatis 3, and Fright in my personal top 20 list.

     

For whom the games toll,
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We did start a thread last year on best casual games:
https://adventuregamers.com/forums/viewthread/9339/

     
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I forgot that I did that.  Pan

I do recall that when AG stopped reviewing casual games, we started this thread. And along the way we posted our collective thoughts on the best games of the year.

As is noted in the linked post, I also mentioned that I reviewed a lot of games as part of my Casual Friday Adventure Game Scene of the Day posts. I don’t recall the exact number, but I’m guessing the number of post/reviews numbers somewhere in the 70s.

While I tried to post games I enjoyed, there were quite a few that received less than stellar reviews.

I’ve not tried it, but I guess you could do a Forum search using “AGSotD and rtrooney” as keywords. I think the “and” needs to be included in order to only get the Casual Friday AGSotD posts. If a moderator knows the best search syntax, please post it.

And, remember, this was my personal opinion of “best of.” Nobody should look at this as a definitive list.

     

For whom the games toll,
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It seems that I am the only one playing casual games these days. Or, if I’m not, it seems I’m the only one reporting on them.

Anyway, I played the demo of Mystery Tales - The Other Side. The reviews on BFG were mediocre. The main complaint was that there were too many puzzles. Well I like puzzles. The other complaint was that there were too many HO scenes. First, I didn’t think there were too many. And, if you hated one, there was a Match-3 option to bypass it.

That said, I purchased the game with a credit. I was really liking this game. Then came a puzzle towards the end of the game that crashed the game. I uninstalled it and re-installed it from the Purchase History link. Played through it all again. And crashed on the same puzzle.

There are no updates that I’m aware of that address this problem. So, I guess I won’t know how the game ends. Although I’m guessing the protagonist, you, will find a way to kill the demon and send its ally to eternal damnation.

Good news is that I wrote a report to Customer Support at BFG, and included a DR.Felix system analysis, and got a response within an hour. New credit for any game I would like to purchase. Either SE or CE. That’s good customer service, and I appreciate it.

As a side note, you may have noticed that game commentary posts have disappeared. Reviews are still there. But discussion of the games, themselves, are gone. This is very strange, and I will report more when I have additional information.

     

For whom the games toll,
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Total Posts: 221

Joined 2003-11-10

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Finished Clockwork Tales : Of Glass and Ink

I think I would rate it as similar to Karthala, except I wasn’t expecting much so in the end I was more or less pleasantly surprised.
Nothing exceedingly original about the puzzles or the story, though.

     

Total Posts: 221

Joined 2003-11-10

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By the way, I think what’s bothering me most about these two games (Clockwork Tales and Karthala) is the mediocrity of the cut scenes, and especially the character models.
I wish there would be more FMV casuals like Dire Grove, or otherwise no cut scenes, or plain comic book paintings like in Return to Mystery Island.

     
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Ninth - 12 May 2018 11:47 AM

Finished Clockwork Tales : Of Glass and Ink

I think I would rate it as similar to Karthala, except I wasn’t expecting much so in the end I was more or less pleasantly surprised.
Nothing exceedingly original about the puzzles or the story, though.

I liked this game. I wouldn’t call it Steampunk, but there are certainly some elements of that. If you are looking for Steampunk, I would definitely try Depths of Betrayal.

     

For whom the games toll,
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I played Grim Facade: Broken Sacrament today and found it full of plot holes and not very sympathetic characters.  The voice acting was weak, especially since most of the Italian characters had American accents, and there was a frustrating fight scene with a health bar that just didn’t work very well.  Although I have played a couple of other Grim Facade games I liked, this one was disappointing and rather disjointed.

     

Carpe chocolate.

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That’s another one of the ERS, now AMAX games that has “jumped the shark.” I hate to bring up “Rooney’s Rule” but it totally applies here. I think I played this series through, I think, the fifth game. And they just got worse. I think the downturn actually took place after the second game.

What’s surprising in your comment was your issue with the accents. In the first game, it was Venice something, we all complained about the fake accents.  Smile

     

For whom the games toll,
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Just finished playing The Andersen Accounts - Chapter One CE. It’s quite good. Haven’t played the bonus game yet, so I don’t know whether that adds sufficient value. (Confession: I bought this game with a credit for a failed game. The credit was good for anything, SE or CE. So I figured I might as well go for it all.)

The game is from EIPIX which has a fairly credible reputation of late. Maybe not as good as Artifex Mundi, but certainly better than ERS/AMAX.

I can’t say the premise is simple. People in “Bay City,” the location of the game, are getting tattoos. Some voluntarily. Some against their will. There is something in the ink used in the tattoos that imparts a special power. Maybe it’s the ability to create weapons out of thin air. Maybe it’s the ability to break glass with a scream. You get the drift. It’s mutant X-Men with tattoos.

You are the Andersen in the title. Your girlfriend Rachel is kidnapped very early in the game. Your goal is, obviously, to recover her. But along the way, you also run into other mutants. (BTW, you have also been tattooed against your will, and now have special powers of your own.) And, of course, you must find out the objective of all this tattoo stuff, as well as finding out who is behind it.

I thought the game was a little short for a CE. But then I’ve not played the bonus game. There are all sorts of achievements. Including finding the morphing object in the HO scenes. And there is an icon of sorts hidden in every location. There are people I’m sure who like this stuff. Granted, if I find the morphing object, I will chalk it up to good luck. But, after finding all the objects in an HO scene, I’m not going to spend another 20 minutes waiting for the morphing object to reveal itself. Those things are just time-wasters to me.

Finally, as the title suggests, there will be additional episodes/chapters to this saga. I have no idea whether the new chapters will follow the X-Men theme, or take off on another direction entirely. The game has possibilities. It ended with three protagonists that I assume will find their way to Chapter Two. We’ll se how long it takes for “Rooney’s theory” to kick in.

     

For whom the games toll,
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Joined 2004-07-12

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I’ve recently played Dark Tales - Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum and Edge of Reality - Fatal Luck. Both are quite good, but with some reservations.

First, I think I mentioned playing the CE demo of Pit, and found that I was continually distracted by “Achivement” notifications. Plus, there were “Collectibles” and “Morphing Objects to be found in many scenes. I ended up buying the game, but bought the SE version, which is not only less expensive than the CE, but has none of the distractions. Also. unlike most of the previous Dark Tales games in the series, this game has, despite its title, nothing whatsoever to do with Poe’s short story beating the same title. If you can get past that, and play the game as a convoluted detective mystery, I think you’ll enjoy it.

The second game, Fatal Luck, come from a developer named Friends 4 Games. I know I’ve seen that name before, but I can’t recall what the other games were. Regardless, you are the protagonist who was orphaned as an infant. The only clues as to your real identity are some artifacts that were tucked into your crib when you were dropped at the orphanage. Wone of the items was a playing card with the name AZARA printed on the back. It turns out that AZARA is a casino that is currently holding a tournament of sorts, with the winner being granted his or her greatest wish. (Your wish is, of course, finding your history.) Due to some considerable luck at the roulette wheel, you earn enough money to qualify for the sixth and final seat at the table. However, unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, you don’t sit at the same table with the other players. Instead, you play against the others individually in a “Winner Take All” game. A very entertaining game with some fairly difficult puzzles. I liked the game, but didn’t like the ending. Without saying exactly how it ended, let’s just say that it was a surprise twist of fate that guarantees a sequel…providing the developer decides to make one.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I also played the demo of the latest Mystery Trackers game. It’s called Mystery Trackers: The Mysts of Blackhill from Elephant Games. I finished the 90-minute demo in 42 minutes. Three words: Don’t Buy It!

     

For whom the games toll,
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Joined 2003-09-16

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Stray Cat Doors is a cute casual game I played on my iPad. It is free, and had no advertisements. There are 6 Stages and the whole game took me about 2 hours. It is a puzzle game, where you work your way through a scene to pick up enough puzzle pieces to exit a door. It has some typical puzzle elements - finding clues to codes, 1 slider, inventory to use. It is just challenging enough to have you think about how to use the clues. The levels got more challenging as you moved on.
You can find it wherever you get your apps.

     
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That sounds like a game I would enjoy. But the only “pad” I have is a Kindle. And it’s an early version. Don’t know if the game is available for it. Or whether the device is suitable for playing if it is. Guess I should do some research. If it’s free and it doesn’t work, nothing is lost.

Tim

     

For whom the games toll,
they toll for thee.

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