You can read about it here: New Big Fish Games Manager Update

Thank you, Marian 🙂

I got that notice when I started my latest Casual Game earlier today.
Just hope I understand it when it happens !! 🤞

Thanks Marian! I saw it also and am not really looking forward to it. I just hope it all goes smoothly!

No, I am not looking forward to it either. I always worry that something will go wrong, particularly if it is fixing something that isn't broken. Club members were offered a beta version of this back in October and I downloaded that with no issues, hoping that I had gotten it over with then and there. Unfortunately the version number of the beta is different than the one mentioned in the link I gave above so it's looking like I will have to update yet again.

Mad, I think when the update is available it will just automatically start installing when you begin to download a game; at least, that is always the way that it has worked in the past.

I'm worried about the part regarding signing in I think. And, I'll have to remember to download a game or two at that time, maybe one from each of my accounts even though they do share the Game Manager. When you tried the beta version, did you have any issues with your two accounts? You do have more than one account right?

I do hope that will be the case, Marian 🤞

(I hate techie changes !!)

Hi, Marian!

I received an email from Big Fish yesterday about the new Game Manager. Since the proverbial "Murphy" has a room in my house, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong !

Susan

Yes, I do. No problems with the beta as yet. It really did not seem unlike the existing one. I think the biggest changes are behind the scenes having to do with increased security.

Susan, Murphy definitely resides at my place too. We need to send him to Bermuda or something.

Thanks Marian!

Susan, Murphy gets around!

oldbroad, he certainly does. Just when I think I've gotten rid of him, he's back again !

Marian, I'm sure the Bermuda Triangle is very nice this time of year !

Susan

Even better!

Hi.

I'm sure there will already be a thread here somewhere about the update but I've been unable to find it.

So, to test if it's happened for ME yet, I just downloaded an oldie favourite - Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles.
But I couldn't tell if anything was any different !!

So perhaps the update hasn't happened yet ??

I moved you to the existing thread, Mad.

Thank you very much, BrownEyedTigre !!

I have read all through the thread now but when downloading a Big Fish game earlier as a test (in the usual way, via Game Manger/ Purchase History) I didn't notice anything different happening.

And the game worked perfectly .. as always.

So, for now, I'm non the wiser

The update hasn't happened yet. We will all be receiving more info when it's getting closer to happening. It is supposed to be the second half of February.

Right !! Thanks, Marian 👍

Fear and trepidation that nothing will work correctly

As I said before, I have been using the beta version of the new GM and have had nothing untoward occur. I am hoping that the final version will be the same, but of course I will be relieved when I can say that with certainty.

Hi, Marian!

Is there a trick to downloading and installing the new Game Manager because I must be doing something wrong? I clicked on the "Download Big Fish Games App For PC", but no progress bar indicating it was downloading appeared. After waiting for over an hour, I brought up the Game Manager and the "Time To Update" message still popped up and I'm unable to play any of the demo games I've installed but haven't purchased yet.

Thanks for any words of wisdom you can share with me !

Susan

Hi Susan,

They are discussing all of this over on the Big Fish Fans page on Facebook, and the general consensus seems to be to wait a while longer because the new update and other changes may not have been implemented yet. There are two moderators there who are contacting Big Fish staff directly about this. I will let you know if I read anything to indicate that everything has been concluded and that all systems are go.

Hi, Marian!

Thanks very much for your response, but it must have worked because, when I launched the Game Manager, up popped "Your Game Manager Is Up to Date!". I can't tell if there is any difference, though, so it should be interesting when I purchase my next game !

Susan

I, too, now have the "updated version" and was very surprised and pleased to see the bonus of "Before and After" pictures

Thanks for letting us know, Susan and Mad!

Thanks! I just updated mine and am testing it out, downloading something in my original account and then will try something in my second account, just to be sure.

Mad, what do you mean about the "Before and After" pictures? The only thing I see different (so far) is that it is bigger.

Everything seems to be working fine for me. Whew!

Well mine seems to be working fine also so I second that "Whew!"

I now have 2 Game Manager icons on my desk top though and both of them seem to be updated and usable. The old one has a + sign on it and the new one has a "start button" arrow. Is it safe to assume I can just put the old one in my trash?

Hi, Mad!

I just launched the Game Manager to see if I could find the Before and After pictures, and I'm getting the "Time to Update!" message again. Since I can do major damage when I'm tired, I'll try again tomorrow because I have no idea what went wrong . Murphy strikes again !

Susan

Good luck Susie07!

I’m on my iPad right now so can’t check to see if the Before and After pics. are still showing.

Will look next time I use my Win10 machine 🙂

(Hope all is well, Susie07 🤞)

No problem Mad!

One thing I noticed that I don't like is that the manager is opening up when I exit each game. I did not have that happen before. I guess I will have to create different .exe icons for each game.

It has always opened for me when I exit a game 🙄

What about anyone else ??

Hi, oldbroad and Mad!

Thanks! I was finally successful by downloading and installing the update from my Game Manager instead of the website, and everything seems to be working fine. I also have 2 Game Managers on my desktop but, since I don't want to tempt fate, I'm leaving the old one right where it is !

Susan

Mad and ob, open up the Game Manager and choose Options - then put a check mark next to "quick exit." That should fix things up for you. That option was available in the prior Game Manager, too.

I ended up with multiple icons on my desktop too. I decided to live on the edge and got rid of one of them.

Hi, Marian!

You are very brave because my old Game Manager is not going anywhere !

Thanks for the tip about putting a check mark next to "Quick Exit" in the new Game Manager. I just made the change.

Susan

You are welcome, Susan.

I have the old Game Manager backed up on an external drive.

Ah, Thank you, Marian! Check marked! I guess I must have done that before but didn't remember. There are some games that don't like to shut down properly (such as Pop Art games) and for those, I make a separate .exe shortcut.

Susan, I'm leaving the old one on my desktop also, for the time being

Glad to help, ob!

So has anyone seen the Before and After pictures ??

Hi, Mad!

If you click on "Find PC Games" at the top left side of the Game Manager, the four options underneath have big pictures, so I assume they are "After" .

I'm just hoping nothing goes wrong the next time I buy a game because the old Game Manager has been converted to the new Game Manager so I now have 2.

Susan

Not me, Mad, unless I just don't understand what you mean.

Susan, yes, same here. They are both the same which is why I assume I can get rid of one but still am not (yet).

This is the page where the "Before and After" pics. are :-

https://www.bigfishgames.com/us/en/...b19enauthgrandma_2025feb19startupoverlay

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And I deleted the old Game Manager icon from my desktop as soon as the new one appeared .... with no ill effects ....

LOL - none of that looks different to me! Thanks though for pointing it out!

Okay, I don't know if this "updated" game manager is the culprit here but I can't think of any other reason why a game that I've had installed and am halfway through playing, all of a sudden is not installed anymore???? And, I don't think it's just one of them. There are a couple that I'm trying to open but only the game manager opens. I've only checked this one game though so far and when I looked in "purchase history" it shows "download". I'm afraid to try the download. - I went ahead and downloaded it but it won't install/activate. It gives me an Error Code 1401. I AM NOT HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!!

Edit: So the game manager was stuck with this game that wouldn't install or go away so I uninstalled the manager and tried to do the download from the site under my order history and the game manager installed again and it shows that my "recent activity" is troubleshooting the game. I first got an error 803200 and then it turned to a 900. I have looked at the Big Fish Error Codes and that has not been helpful so I have opened up a ticket.

This particular game is My Hobby Needlwork: Cat Town. Another one I've been playing that doesn't seem to be playable all of a sudden is Art by Number 16. One is from my 2nd account and one is from my 1st account. I have also noticed that the "sign out" takes two tries before it signs out.

I hope nobody else experiences these issues. I'm feeling about done with Big Fish but since I have almost 1300 games from them...

2nd Edit: I also can't seem to change what folder I want my downloads to go in. The default is C Drive Program Files X86 but I previously had them set to go to a D Drive file. It won't let me change it by typing in the box and the "browse" button doesn't let me change it either (though maybe I am just doing something wrong here)?

I am sorry I am ranting - I am just very upset at the moment!

3rd Edit: One more thing before I call it a night. I made a new .exe shortcut for the Art by Number game and IT works even though in the manager it does not show that it's installed (in my computer apps, it does). I wish I had tried that with the Needlework game before going through all this mess. BUT NOW, can you believe it? The game manager looked normal again (no recent activity message) so I tried the download/install one more time and this time it worked. I have now made a new shortcut for this game also and several others. I think I will go ahead and make new shortcuts for all of them, a few at a time. At least I'll be able to sleep now knowing it is fixed!

I am so sorry, ob - I would have been upset too. These Big Fish accounts are very important to us, both for the games and for the money we have invested in them, and I find myself getting upset if even one little thing starts to not work the way that it should because I worry that there will be more problems to come. I am sure glad it got sorted before you went to sleep.

The plot thickens! I just opened up my Malwarbytes and guess what - it had quarantined the two games and the manager. I've been playing Cat Town for months and the Art game for at least 2 weeks, so I don't know why they were all of a sudden quarantined. The new shortcuts seem to be working still this morning though.

I still didn't sleep well

That is interesting. I haven't had any behavior like that from Malwarebytes, at least not yet. Weird.

I hope it is not going to re-quarantine them now that I have them working again. I suppose I should run a scan and check it out instead of waiting but I don't want to get all riled up again just yet.

Edit: I should say quarantine them again as I did not "restore" them since they are now working.

Marian, do you know how to change the game download path? I'm not sure why I can't do it. Maybe I need to change something in my computer to show paths but I had and have all my game managers (BF/GOG/Steam) set to go to my D drive before so I'm not sure why I cannot change it in this new manager.

Another question if I may. What is the difference in signing in? I don't see any difference but BF claims it is changed and safer.

First of all, I don't see any difference in signing in either. Maybe the changes are behind the scenes?

One thing I noticed in the past few days was that I was signed out when I went to Big Fish when I had never signed out. Other than that, I haven't noticed anything that is really different.

You can change the game's download path in the Game Manager. Go to Options, then click on Downloads, and then you will see Game Installation Location at the bottom there as an option. Just remember to change it back afterwards if need be.

I haven't been signed out.

I have already tried doing that Marian, but the area is grayed out so I cannot just type a path and when I "browse" I also cannot seem to choose a path which is why I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

Maybe that feature isn't working yet? Not sure; I will look into it.

It's possible I could have been signed out due to a browser update, but I don't recall there being one around that time. I will wait and see if it happens again.

Okay, I just tried changing the download location and it worked for me.

I don't know why it's not working for me. Could you type in the box or did you use browse, and if you used browse, how did you select what you wanted?

Thanks Marian!

Edit: I think I got it now! I'll have to download something to confirm.

No, you can't type in the box. I used browse, then found what I wanted and clicked on/selected it, and then hit okay. I will say that it was a trifle finicky for me and the first time I did it, it did not take. Occasionally my mouse has issues, though, so I am not sure of the culprit in this instance.

It was user error

I also have issues with my mouse (or possibly it is just my finger.

Well, this user makes errors too!

I absolutely panicked after I uninstalled the Game Manager and saw that empty spot on my desktop because I didn't know how I would ever access any of the games again. It took a few minutes to remember that I just had to try to download a game from the site and that the manager would then install.

Just so you all know - i have been using computers since before Windows or even DOS, and have NEVER used anything like Malwarebytes, or McAfee, or Norton, etc. etc. etc.
And I have never had a virus or other invasion.

Was going to say more; but not tonight. Luv ya all

Lucky you, Tally Ho! There are certainly ways to minimize one's risk. Personally I would not feel comfortable without having something on my computer to assist with such things. But different strokes for different folks. And we love you too.

Ob, previously there was also a link to download the Game Manager in the help section of Big Fish. Will take a look and see if this option is still available.

Yes we do, Tally Ho (love you too)! Curious what else you were going to say. For the record, I think I'm pretty careful about what I do on the internet, but I still prefer some back up protection. And I don't think anything I did would have affected the BF manager or the installed games involved.

Marian, there probably is, but at that moment of panic I couldn't see it. So far, everything is still going well!

I can't stand the update! Every time I close out of a game, the game manager opens. Is there any way to stop that? Thanks.

Needed this reminder from Marian as to how to do it.

Ahhhhhhhh, thanks so much.

An update for the Game Manager was released yesterday. Apparently they increased the font size slightly and also added dark mode.

I installed by going to Options in the Game Manager, then to About, and then Check for Updates.

Thanks for the info although I'd rather not have to deal with it .

I felt the same way, ob!

I was having trouble downloading a game a few days ago so I had to do the uninstall/reinstall to get the upgraded manager. Of course, you have to redo your settings which I forgot to do. But the thing that is driving me bonkers is that the "sort" won't keep my preference. I like to sort by game title but it will only sort first by purchase date and then I have to do it again by game title. GRRR

I agree, ob. I prefer to sort by title and I don't like to have to keep sorting that over and over; I wish it would save one's preference.

The original new manager did, it's this new version that doesn't.

And I would like to sort by Most Recently Played. Maybe if enough of us gripe, they will change it to remember our preference.

I will try to remember to mention this on the Big Fish Fans Facebook page. They have a couple of moderators there who have been providing feedback to Big Fish about the new Game Manager.