Recently in the Tales from the Dragon Mountain thread, we have been talking about what casual game(s) we are playing. I thought it would be nice to start up a separate thread so that we could keep one another informed as to what we are playing. I find it interesting to hear what others are playing and have gotten some good gaming suggestions this way.

Of course let's not forget the reviews and recommendations thread as well - reserved for those games that we find truly exceptional and feel compelled to write about as being outstanding.

Anyway, I will start:

I saw Big Fish's sale today for games that were released in 2013, and that's what got me started on the game I am currently playing, which is Phenomenon: Meteorite Collector's Edition. I saw it on the list, knew I had it in my Purchase History (for seven years, no less), and had never played it. I decided to download it and dive in. So far I am finding this game to be very enjoyable. It's more of an adventure lite than a HOG. There aren't that many hidden object scenes and the ones that there are have an interesting twist. Can't find an item? Click on the name of the item on the list and up will come a picture clue and some letters to arrange into a word. If you figure out the word, the item is removed from your list. It starts out rather simple but gets more challenging as the game progresses. I haven't seen this kind of alternate game during a HOG before (maybe it is in one or both of the other two Phenomenon games? I don't know.). The puzzles so far have been fun - not horribly difficult and quite enjoyable. There is to-ing and fro-ing in this game but the areas are not confusingly large, and as I progressed I found myself unable to go back to the initial area. I prefer this because it eliminates a lot of unnecessary wandering.

So, this game is proving to be a very pleasant surprise. And, being as it is from 2013, there are no constant announcements and pop-ups. I don't mind those but also don't miss them when they are not present.

I don't have those games Marian but they look good.

As mentioned in the other thread, I'm playing Sacra Terra 2: Kiss of Death. It's not a bad game but I did like the first game better.

Thanks for starting this thread. I like to know what others are playing also.

Thanks for the feedback about Sacra Terra 2. Let us know how it goes.

I just took a look at the credits for the Phenomenon Meteorite CE and one of the names involved (listed under a special thank-you) is Dimmie Azu, who is also one of the designers of the two True Fear games. I find that interesting.

I've started replaying my HOPA games roughly in alphabetical order. I'm not including the games that aren't stored on my USB external hard drive of Big Fish games. I'm also not including Big Fish games I've played recently or those that aren't HOPA's. So these tend to be the also-rans because my favorites are on my computer's hard drive and not relegated to the external drive.

I'm in the D, E, and F part of the alphabet.

Recently I played these:

Fallen: The Flowers of Evil,
Dreamscapes: The Sandman
Fiction Fixers: The Curse of OZ
Family Tales: The Sisters
Fairly Twisted Tales: The Price of a Rose

Fairly Twisted Tales is a Beauty and the Beast variant. It had some interesting puzzles and some of the environments were interesting. The first time you see the Beast's castle is a surprise considering how muted the colors are in most of the game.

Fallen: The Flowers of Evil isn't sure what it wants to be. Some combination of vampire with other horror story stuff.

Fiction Fixers: The Curse of OZ is very poor. Not like OZ at all, and considerably worse than the first Fiction Fixers game. Fiction Fixers: Adventures in Wonderland only took a handful of vignettes from the story, but at least the Wonderland in the game was recognizable. Not so this mess claiming to be about OZ.

In Family Tales: The Sisters your character goes off to rescue her sister Anna, who had a history of claiming she could go to another world as a child. The "other world" you go to in the game is sort of empty and disappointing though.

In Dreamscapes: The Sandman your character volunteers to go into a woman's head to wake her out of her coma. The "Dreamscapes" are small areas. You are supposed to find little eye-on-a-stalk things called "Beholders" throughout the game. There are 102 of them. I did not find them all.

I started Exorcist 2 but didn't finish because I ran into a gamebreaking bug. You're supposed to get a milk bottle out of a trunk in one of the Hidden object scenes. Unfortunately the trunk wouldn't open. Other people at Big Fish forum reported the same problem. It wasn't a good enough game to start the game over, even though I was only in the 2nd chapter.

Of the above games, I'd say Fairly Twisted Tales was the best one, despite that I'm kind of tired of Beauty and the Beast variants.

I have only two of the games you mention Jenny and you're not making them sound appealing .

They are the Fiction Fixers games (I have both) and the Exorcist games (I have all 3).

Jenny, I have Fallen, Dreamscapes, Fairly Twisted Tales, and Exorcist II (hope I don't come across that bug!) and do plan to play them all. I am so glad I started this thread because I love hearing about what others are playing. I was rather looking forward to Fallen as it's from the same developer as Calavera: Day of the Dead and Secrets of the Seas: Flying Dutchman, both of which I enjoyed. You've got quite an ambitious project going there. If you are willing, I would enjoy hearing more as you make your way through the alphabet.

I've had a good bit of time on my hands what with being shut in so much, and since the end of March have completed the following:

Hidden Expedition: Fountain of Youth CE
Edge of Reality: Mask of Fate CE
Fatal Evidence: The Missing CE
Shadowplay: Harrowstead Mystery CE
Haunted Hotel: Beyond the Page CE
Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's Ligeia CE
Twilight Phenomena: Strange Menagerie CE
Labyrinths of the World: The Wild Side CE
Mystery Tales: Art and Souls CE
Nightmares From the Deep: The Siren's Call CE
Mystika
Happy Clinic CE
Cruel Games: Red Riding Hood
Dark Cases: The Blood Ruby CE
Ominous Objects Family Portrait CE
Legends of the East: The Cobra's Eye CE
Malice: Two Sisters
Tales From the Dragon Mountain: The Strix
Whispered Secrets Into the Beyond CE
Haunted Manor: Queen of Death CE
Infected: The Twin Vaccine CE
Left in the Dark: No One on Board
Shtriga: Summer Camp
Where Angels Cry
Sable Maze: Sullivan's River CE
Dracula's Legacy
Whispered Secrets: Golden Silence CE
Living Legends Remastered: Ice Rose CE
Reflections of Life: Slipping Hope CE

It's been quite a journey so far and if it were not for the quarantine, it's entirely possible that I would never have gotten around to some of these. I probably should have chosen to go in alphabetical order too as it would be easier to remember what I've played, but instead I have been keeping this list on my desktop.

I have a bunch on my laptop but playing, Whispered Secrets: Golden Silence CE now.

I enjoyed that game, TLC; it's on my list above so I played it very recently.

Marian, Would you happen to know if, Twilight Phenomena: Strange Menagerie CE, plays on the current OS? Thanks.

I don't know for sure because I played it on my Windows 7 computer, but you can download the demo and give it a try.

Good Gracious Marian !!

I must be the slowest player in existence

I'm still playing the second "Tales from the Dragon Mountain" game

I've never played that many games in such a short space of time before, Mad. I think I am trying to make up for lost time because in the last 20 years or so I was rarely able to play more than 30 minutes at a stretch and most of that time it was when I was too tired to focus. Therefore I am trying to make the most of it now.

As long as you are having fun, that's all that matters!

I though Calavera was better than Fallen, though Fallen wasn't terrible and I kind of liked the graphics, which were sort of storybooklike, at least in the beginning areas. I have Flying Dutchman but it's going to be on the to-replay list when I get to the "S for Secret of" because I haven't played it for many years (probably not since 2012 when I bought it).


I'll let you know if I find (or rediscover) any really good ones.


Of those you list, I have the following:
Twilight Phenomena: Strange Menagerie CE
Nightmares From the Deep: The Siren's Call CE
Cruel Games: Red Riding Hood
Dark Cases: The Blood Ruby CE
Ominous Objects Family Portrait CE
Legends of the East: The Cobra's Eye CE
Malice: Two Sisters
Tales From the Dragon Mountain: The Strix
Whispered Secrets Into the Beyond CE
Haunted Manor: Queen of Death CE
Infected: The Twin Vaccine CE
Left in the Dark: No One on Board
Where Angels Cry
Sable Maze: Sullivan's River CE

Malice: Two Sisters gets the booby prize for worst ending short of a cliffhanger.
Do you remember that one, with two mannequins stiffly embracing, and a moment of horror when you think, "Is that my character? Was I playing as a dressmakers dummy?"


Actually I didn't start by going in alphabetical order. I started by oldest game purchase order. But then I decided I wanted more variety in game style. The oldest ones tend to have really long Hint recharge -- some as much as 2 or 3 minutes on Casual, if they have difficulty choices at all, and if they have Hints outside of HOP scenes at all. Some of the oldest games (pre-2010) have very strange gameplay, with features that were not continued in newer games, probably because they weren't popular.

I've been writing sort of reviews for myself while I replay these games so I remember what the games were about and what they were like. If a game annoys me with something I write it down. For example pouring acid on a piece of metal so you can break it off and then put it in your pocket without wiping it off. This is something you do in the current game I'm playing, Dark Heritage: Guardians of Hope. In real life the acid would eat through your pants and dissolve your skin. And then I don't like it when your character goes around smashing things needlessly. If there's a key in a jug, would you turn the jug over and dump out the key? or would you smash it, scattering glass shards all over the place to cut yourself on, not to mention any that might have flown up and hit you in the eye. It's just annoying to see that sort of stupidity.

Jenny, great to know that you will keep us posted if you find (or rediscover) some really good games.

As for Malice: Two Sisters, ugh. That so-called "ending" was the worst. I just kind of sat there when it finished, dumbfounded, and then went to read the game reviews on Big Fish just in case someone had even so much as an inkling of what the ending meant and had commented upon it. I don't know if the developers ran out of money or ideas or both, but that ending was abysmal. It reeked.

I just finished the Phenomenon: Meteorite CE. Now to decide what's next.

I'm interested in hearing more about your gaming also Jenny!

Well, good thing I don't have Malice: Two Sisters in my library!

Yes, oldbroad, you aren't missing anything not having Malice: Two Sisters in your game library. It started out not half bad and I was moderately interested in seeing how events unfolded, so I persisted with the game despite the fact that I also had trouble seeing some of the items in the hidden object scenes and this usually annoys me. But because I was somewhat interested in what the story line would reveal, I continued on with the game and this made it all the more irritating when the game ended the way that it did.

Even though, technically I'm not playing it yet after playing the two "Tales from the Dragon Mountain" Cateia games, and thoroughly enjoying them, I'm going to start another Cateia game in a few minutes .... "Where Angels Cry"

I hope you enjoy it, Mad - I certainly did.

Have fun Mad. I enjoyed both Where Angels Cry games though it was long ago and both are far away out of my mind now

Well, I'm certainly liking the first one, so I'm sure I'll like the second also

I am now playing Ghost Towns: The Cats of Ulthar Collector's Edition, which is based upon an H.P. Lovecraft story. The developer is Taba Games, who also did Fallen: Flowers of Evil, Secrets of the Seas: Flying Dutchman CE, and Calavera: Day of the Dead CE. I was feeling a bit lukewarm about it initially but it's growing on me.

I finished Sacra Terra 2 last night. The story and puzzles were fine but I really liked the first game better. This second game had a lot of (for me) not know what I was supposed to be doing and going back and forth over and over. I usually don't use maps but eventually broke down and used this one which aided not just in the moving itself, but in telling me where I needed to go to do something.

Next up: Redrum 2 - Time Lies

I hope Ghost Towns hold up for you Marian. I do have that one in my library.

Good to hear you like Where Angels Cry Mad.

Let us know what you think of Redrum 2. I don't have that one.

I know what you mean about breaking down and using the map. I don't use maps either as a rule and when I break down and start using one a lot it can really take the fun out of it.

I'm halfway through Paranormal: Trials of Worth. I've played three other games in this series, and they tend to be easy on the whole, but with a couple of very difficult puzzles in the mix. I recently played Fatal Evidence: The Missing (long and with great puzzles), and Lost Lands: Mistakes of the Past as well as Lost Lands: Redemption (both not quite as good as others in the series, but still better than most HOAs these days).

Thanks so much for joining in on the discussion, Reenie. I love to read about what everyone is playing.

I liked Fatal Evidence: The Missing as well.

There's a beta on YouTube now called Legendary Tales: Stolen Life which is from 5 BN and is the start of a new series. Looking forward to that one!