The last casual game I played was Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor (2007), which I played last month, and it's an oldie but goodie. It used to be exclusively sold at GameHouse, BFG's rival site.

I just finished playing the last three games in the Maze Series. Not sure why, but, I did not enjoy the last game as much as the first three in the series.
Maybe I just had enough of some monster jumping out at me.

I see there's another Maze 5: Sinister Play in Beta. Not sure what I'll play next.

I haven't played all the Maze games, just a couple of them - the first two in the series. I enjoyed both of those. Thanks for letting us know what you have been playing, smitty.

GamingPhreak, I haven't played all of the Mortimer Beckett games but the ones I have played I have enjoyed. Thanks for reminding me that they are all on Big Fish now, too.

Marian, have you played the first game? These games are very hard to describe. I don't think a lot of people would like them though I may be wrong. I just started the second game tonight. So far I like it. I like that they are so weird and different, though I already used the hint system 2 or 3 times in the one hour I played. Some of the HO scenes are pretty hard!

I don't have either one, but I do have at least one game by the same developer, Anarchy Enterprises - I have their game Ghost Encounters: Deadwood (which I haven't played yet). They also did the Hide and Secret games of which there are three on Big Fish. I looked at a few minutes of the demo of the first Redrum years ago and never got any further than that.

I have now finished Ghost Towns: The Cats of Ulthar CE and Silent Nights: The Pianist CE. I haven't decided yet what's next.

I'm glad you're liking the second Redrum so far.

Marian -

I read your post the other day that started this thread, and was going to reply, but somehow got distracted

But now the story is - I looked up Phenomenon: Meteorite CE, tried the demo, and wound up buying it. It's really different, and the HOG feature you mention is unique as far as I know, and a big help with hidden objects that elude discovery. And it's a lot more fun than bailing out and using a hint or playing Match Three (which I hate.) I am probably about half-way through, and confess to using the map more than I should. Still - a nice change from the supernatural monster crowd. Good puzzles; and I have only had to consult the guide for one of them; where you need to place 15 lanterns correctly. Couldn't figure that one out without some help.

Back to the reason I was going to post in the first place - I also found a game I have owned and never played - as you did. That's what motivated me to reply. Ravenhearst Unlocked! Can you imagine? No idea why it sat on my computer for so long, but I'm glad I got into it. Whoo! It's a biggie. I was in the middle of it when this thread started; but have finished and gotten into Meteorite. Anyway, it feels like I'm rambling. Bye!

Tally Ho, that is great to hear that you are enjoying the Phenomenon: Meteorite CE. This kind of discussion thread has gotten me started on some pretty good games that I otherwise probably never would have played.

I too enjoyed the puzzles in the game.

And how nice to discover Ravenhearst: Unlocked! Happy gaming!

Darkness and Flame: Enemy in Reflection CE.

This is an excellent game in every respect. Graphics, especially the characters, are superb. A complex story, lots of sites to travel to, and a nice long game. I especially like the fact that there’s a diary that helps me keep track of the story. The map is a must for me since there are so many sites involved and a bit of backtracking. Puzzles are doable foe those of us who tend to skip puzzles if they take long or are too difficult. I Highly recommend this game.

I haven't played that Darkness and Flame game yet, Sparkle, but I am really looking forward to it. Another winner from 5 BN, for sure.

Thanks Sparkle. This game is still on my "to buy" list.

Are you still enjoying Redrum: Time Lies, oldbroad?

Haven't been back to it yet. Hopefully, in a little while.

Okay, sounds good.

Well, I played about another 2 hours now and I am still enjoying it! While I do remember the first game for the most part, I can't give specific information about it but it was very similar to this one so I'll explain this one a little.

The object is to free souls. I think there are 10 and I have freed 4 so far. It could be described as gruesome. For example, a former tv chef whose audience thought they were eating sauteed tofu salads were really eating sauteed brain salads, the brains coming from other VIP audience members.

There are some jigsaw puzzles, tile swap to create a picture puzzles, and drag columns and rows to complete a picture. There are various HO scenes, some by list and some by shape. The shapes are not necessarily of items. They might be some portion of the environment. There are some pictures comprised of hexagon shapes and you have to match the hexagons at the bottom of the screen to those in the picture. This puzzle was in the first game also, but in this game the color changes between 2 different hues and in one of them so far, when the color changed the detail of the hexagon changed also. For instance, if in blue hue there was an eye in the hexagon, when it changed to red hue, the eye was not in it. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I like the games but as I stated prior, I'm sure they would not appeal to all!

Now I know why there is that warning message on the Big Fish download page for the game. That does indeed sound rather gruesome and something that could bother some players. Thanks very much for the description of the puzzle types, too. The game certainly sounds different from the norm. There are so many titles on Big Fish and it's great to learn more about them.

I finished Redrum 2: Time Lies tonight. I knew I was near the end so decided to finish it but wished I had waited as there were several challenging puzzles in a row and I was getting tired but couldn't see how to exit out of them. I finally decided that I could probably exit out of the game (didn't notice that in the one puzzle but did in the next one) but kept going. The game did get repetitive but I still enjoyed it! Apparently there was supposed to be another one but I guess it got scrapped .

Next up: Mystery Case Files 15: The Black Veil since I started it to see if it worked because Mad is having problems with it, so I might as well continue playing it and next in line from the series I had started earlier this year is Small Town Terrors 3: Galdor's Bluff.

Good to know that overall you enjoyed Redrum 2. I guess the game had an ending that suggested they were thinking about a sequel?

I hope you enjoy Black Veil; I have played about a half an hour of it in the past and also had no technical problems. I will be interested to hear your thoughts about it. I have Galdor's Bluff but haven't played it yet.

I just finished the Dark Dimensions: Wax Beauty CE and enjoyed that one quite a lot. I thought it was very well done. I have now started the League of Light: The Gatherer CE; I was reminded of it due to it being one of Big Fish's free games on offer right now. I thought I had played at least the main game before, but I am about halfway through the main game and nothing about it now seems familiar, so perhaps I had abandoned it at some point. It's a good game, so I'm glad I got back to it now.

I started Ms. Holmes: The Five Orange Pips yesterday, and am enjoying playing a game set in a real world rather than some magical place full of purple smoke. I wish there were more games like that!

The game has its silliness, but overall holds together well. There is the usual endless search for inventory, but some of it is assembled and used in novel ways. There isn't much to the characters; they all have been caricatures, so far. All the HOA components are in place: Morphing Objects, Collectibles, etc. The map is good for finding your way back to previous scenes. The mini-games/puzzles cover all the usual variations plus a couple of original ideas, but have been too easy; I would have welcomed more of a challenge. A lot of attention has been paid to artwork in each scene, most of it for appearance sake only (not a bad thing, as accuracy fosters a sense of realism). I have a feeling that this game might be longer than others I have played, and I appreciate that. I always buy the CE version because I want a longer story and play.

I have Mindframe: The Secret Design in the wings, to play after Ms. Holmes. I suspect I'll be back to fantasy and purple smoke with that one. ha ha We'll see.

Thanks so much for your thoughts on Ms. Holmes: Five Orange Pips, Reenie. Let us know what you think overall when you are done with the game. And also let us know about Mindframe. I hope you will continue contributing to this thread.

Having had to abandon the Mystery Case Files game "The Black Veil" I'm going to install "Ms. Holmes: Five Orange Pips" myself - and hope for better things !!

I certainly hope that Five Orange Pips will suit you and also run without problems.

Thank you, Marian

I too, will be starting the Five Orange Pips - probably tomorrow. Thanks Reenie for the quick review.

Let us know how it goes, Tally Ho.

Only just been able to get to "Ms. Holmes : Five Orange Pips" but it's lookin' good !!