Reenie, not sure what you mean by the Light and Darkness games? In any case, Five BN does not have a series with that name. Maybe you are thinking of the Secrets of the Dark series by Orneon?

I felt that all of the Darkness and Flame games by Five BN were just great, same as the Lost Lands series, and did not find them too easy. I have played the first game in the series twice, in fact, because I thought it was that good. Glad to hear you are enjoying one of them.

Mad

Oh, heavens, I was writing that comment on my iPad Mini, in bed, at 2:00 in the AM, after being awakened by my cat. I should know by now that working from memory is not the best approach at my age! ha ha Sorry about that!

Now that it is morning and I am wide awake and sitting at my PC, I can look at my games database and say that what I meant to refer to was the Labyrinths of the World series. There are at least a dozen games in that series, some merely OK and others that I have replayed because they were so good (Easter Island, Lost Island, The Wild Side and When Worlds Collide). There are equally as many games in that series that were not my cuppa and I bailed on the Demo.

I prefer a game with imaginative puzzles, an adequate sense of exploration, respect for the time and place in which they are set and enough character development to make me actually care about what is happening. I'll put up with purple smoke and bad plot if the game engages me intellectually.

Reenie, I am glad that what you said reminded me of Orneon, because I just downloaded the Secrets of the Dark: Temple of the NIght CE for a replay. I am really enjoying it, maybe more than the first time around actually.

I also liked the Labyrinths of the World: The Wild Side CE.

I am more or less finished with MCF: Fates Carnival and have started Christmas Stories: Alice's Adventures.

Marian, I absolutely LOVE the Secrets of the Dark series (except for Temple of Night). I have replayed them as well. Maybe I should give Temple another try . . .

I have just finished the second Lost Lands: The Four Horsemen. Wow! If I was impressed with the first game in this series, that quickly became an understatement. Longer than most casual games; this would qualify as a serious adventure, but for the hidden-object scenes. Such high attention to detail is uncommon, and very welcome. Now off to the third in the series "The Golden Curse."

- A few minutes later -

I have no doubt this game will meet my expectations!

Continuity editor: When we first see the little girl in the well, the bucket is suspended by a rope. When we next see the well, it's not a rope, it's a chain. Oopsie.
[ Edit: I couldn't believe they would be so careless - so I went back and had another look. What I thought was a rope really is a chain; the foreshortened angle made it look rope-like. I was wrong. Ooooopsie! ]

I think in my next life I'm gonna come back as a Druid. 🤣

Susan is still wearing those glasses she bought at the Dollar Store! 😎 Ha ha

I just replayed the Lost Lands: The Golden Curse CE and I thought it was excellent.

Reenie, I am in the second bonus game of the Temple of Night CE and have enjoyed the game very much.

Oldbroad, I don't have that particular Christmas Stories game. Keep us posted.

I finished Christmas Stories: Alice's Adventure tonight. It was a decent game, nothing spectacular but nothing wrong with it. I skipped one puzzle fairly early in the game. One of those honeycomb puzzles where you have to fill in more spaces than your opponent (the computer). I had enough with that puzzle earlier this year when I played The 7th Guest and then The 11th Hour.

Last night I started Amaranthine Voyage 3: The Shadow of Torment. So far, so good! Once I finish this set of games I have lined up, maybe I will go to the Lost Land series since everybody seems to like it. That will be quite awhile from now though. Everybody will be talking about some other good series by then .

Thanks for your comments about the Christmas Stories game, oldbroad. I will probably get it eventually.

The Amaranthine Voyage series sounds like it's been consistent in quality so far. I have only played two games in that series as of now and those two were not in order of release.

I just finished the Haunted Manor: Painted Beauties CE, which unfortunately is no longer on the Big Fish website. Really good game along the lines of the Haunted Manor: Queen of Death CE as far as artwork and puzzles go. One of the longest HOPAs I've played. Lots of back and forth, so if you don't like that, you would not like this game. Although it does have some hidden object scenes, it really plays like a good adventure game. I tried to use the hint button sparingly and it presented quite a challenge. I hope to replay it someday.

Oh, and I doubt that there will ever be another series that can surpass Lost Lands!

Today I started Echoes of the Past : The Castle of Shadows CE .... And like it

I have the Haunted Manor series but haven't played any of it yet. I don't usually mind back and forth but it depends on how it works itself out in the game.

Mad, I seem to remember that I liked the Echoes of the Past series quite a bit. I have the first 4 games on disc. They ran fine. The 5th and 6th games were downloads and both gave me some trouble. I ran into a glitch in the 4th chapter of the 5th game and had to restart the game and follow the guide to make sure I got past the glitch. The 6th game just would not play for 2 years and then, all of a sudden, it did with no problems. (I tried it out periodically.)

It just so happens I started this game last night! Quite the coincidence, wouldn't you say? I too am enjoying it.

I've decided to re-start it tomorrow because I just found out I can "generate" hints !!

[And I'm sure to need extra ones at some point ]

I should read the instructions of these games before I play them - which is something I hardly ever do

I've never seen "instructions" for these games at all. Sometimes there is a tutorial, if that's what you mean. I don't always use those and sometimes then, I wish I had.

I was spooked by the Hints Box in the game showing a number
So I went to the Main Menu and found there were instructions on how to play the game.
(I had, as usual, declined the "in-game" tutorial )

EDIT :



I didn't find the instructions in the game menu I found them at Big Fish

I just finished replaying the 2018 game, Agency of Anomalies: Cinderstone Orphanage. It is game listed in my notes as being, "One of the best casuals in the Adventure style," so I knew I would replay it. It has more HO than I care about and some of the objects are quite small and hard to find, but the rest of the game is so good that I can't quibble. The game is long, engaging, with a variety of settings and problems to be solved, well thought out and doesn't require any action-type moves or have any timed puzzles. Oddly, you will end up wandering aimlessly at times, being stumped and trying to pick up the thread of what to do next.

My only complaint about the game is that there isn't a standard Map, and I got lost so often in the beginning, until I started drawing my own map. A word of warning: Some of the mini-games are pretty tough. I like that, myself, but not everyone is looking for it in a casual game.

I have played four games in this series. They also have delicious mini-games. They all have the same issue with no Map and with HO scenes having minuscule objects to find.

I thoroughly enjoyed Cinderstone Orphanage. It's probably time for a replay.

Right now I'm playing "Whispered Secrets : Everburning Candle CE".
And some of the more lurid scenes bring to mind "John Saul's Blackstone Chronicles"

As I recall, Everburning Candle was a good one!

Yes. I am enjoying it, Marian

My favorite game in that series is Golden Silence. Best puzzles, better game of decent length and the Bonus Game of the CE version was worth it
.

I played that for the first time this year and thought it was a good, solid game.

I believe I enjoyed all of the Agency of Anomalies game but have not yet played any of the Whispered Secrets games.

I finished Amaranthine Voyage: The Shadow of Torment last night. It started out better than it ended. I could not follow the story at all and I found myself doing a lot of random clicking in the HO scenes. In Chapter 5 the puzzles started to not make sense. One I could not figure out at all even when I consulted the guide. Then the next one, I felt that MY solution looked much better than the actual solution looked . Then in the bonus chapter there was an easy puzzle that I solved but it didn't do what it was supposed to do. After fiddling with it for awhile I looked at the guide. I had everything in the right place, so I reset the puzzle and did it again and then it did what it was supposed to do .

I have also been playing (and am almost finished with I think) The Christmas Spirit 2: Mother Goose's Untold Tales. It's not bad. I think it is more fun than the Christmas Stories: Alice's Adventures game that I finished recently.

Thanks for your thoughts on the Untold Tales game. I have that one but haven't played it yet.

It sounds like you had a bit of a rocky ride with Shadow of Torment. Do you plan on continuing the series soon, or are you going to take a break?

I will play another game or two before I start the next Amaranthine Voyage, so just the regular break I like between series games (not a break because this game wasn't quite as good).