Just re-played all the Dana Knightstone games - one after the other - then did a re-play of the wonderful (Frogwares) Hound of the Baskervilles (for the umpteen time) - and have now started a mammoth re-play of all the "Myths of the World" games

Great fun all round !!

Those were all such good games!

Enjoy your playthrough of Myths of the World.

I decided last night to replay my Dark Parables games - if I follow through on it, that will be a mammoth replay as well!

Have fun you two! I am trying to replay some of my regular adventure games but don't know if I'll ever get around to replaying the casuals. Too many still not played the first time yet. The only ones I did replay were the first 3 Ravenhearst games so I could remember the story to replay the 4th and 5th. I just started the 5th one last night.

I started doing that about a month ago, but quit after playing the Red Riding Hood Sisters, which I didn't care for. I may go back to the Dark Parables series later. Right now I'm going through what's installed on my computer and am playing the Echoes of the Past and Dreampath games.

Thanks, Marian and oldbroad And have fun, Jenny100 !!

I, too, have many as yet unplayed games - and in different genres - but it doesn't stop me acquiring more !!

Can't have too many options for enjoyment

Oh, I keep acquiring more also Mad but there are so many casual games available that I just don't know about replaying them. I sometimes feel I shouldn't be replaying the adventure games either but I sort of feel I might some day be able to play all of those even while replaying some since there aren't as many released (that I'm interested in) as there are casuals.

After I discovered I could download Big Fish games directly to an external drive, I started downloading only the games I favoured to it.
[By playing one of a series and then downloading all the rest in that series.]

At the moment I still have several at Big Fish in my Purchase History that are un-played (therefore un-tested) but one day I WILL have a collection of "tested only" Casuals on my dedicated external drive that I KNOW I will enjoy re-playing

[Plus, as I have a head like a sieve, leaving a sufficient interval between re-plays is enough to make me forget most of a game so a re-play can be like starting a new game for me ]

I already have lots of Adventures and RPGs that I already re-play - but it's more difficult to "test" un-played ones because the games are so much longer - and I have to find the time to do it !!

However, nearly all my Adventures and RPGs are on disks (either retail or burned myself from sites like GOG) so at least they are safe and are just sitting and waiting

This must be quite a dry spell. Pressing a Windows 7 laptop into service again, I've played Grim Tales: The Bride for the first time and am replaying Mystery Trackers: The Void and MCF: Dire Grove, Sacred Grove. Otherworlds may be next.

I really enjoy hearing what casual games you folks are playing right now.

"I WILL have a collection of "tested only" Casuals on my dedicated external drive that I KNOW I will enjoy re-playing"

Mad, will you share the list?

Certainly I will - well - of what's on it at the moment, anyway

Just give me some time to make one !!

EDIT : I just found this list that I made last time I downloaded !!

Adam Wolfe : Games
Alicia Griffiths Lakeside Murder
Amaranthine Voyage : series
Beyond Light Advent
Awakening : Series
Bridge to Another World : Series
Cadenza : Series
Clockwork Tales of Glass and Ink
Dead Reckoning : Series
Dana Knightstone : Series
Final Cut : Series
Haunted Hotel : Series
Hidden Expedition : Series
House of 1000 Doors : Series
Myths of the World : Series
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles
The Dreamatorium of Dr. Magnus : Games
The Lost cases of 221 Baker St.
Vampire Saga : Series

I'm happy to see this list too, Mad.

I must be an oddball, in that I begin to play a game as soon as I download it. I don't tend to "Buy for later."

As for Replay, yeah, I have to wait about a year to replay a game, so I can forget its details, but do enjoy replaying a good game. This is one reason I maintain a database of casuals I've played, noting which ones stink or were only "so-so" or were so engaging that I would want to replay them. Sometimes, it is because they are more like an Adventure than an HO game, and sometimes it is because they run longer than usual or have better (peskier) mini-games.

I have replayed Brink of Consciousness, Dana Nightstone, Dark Parables: The Little Mermaid, Depths of Betrayal, Enigma Agency: Case of Shadows, Eternal Journey: New Atlantis (I recommend this one highly!), F.A.C.E.S., Forbidden Secrets: Alien Town (another one I recommend without reservation), House of 1000 Doors (all of them), Lost Lands: Dark Overlord, Nearwood, Nevertales: Beauty Within, Reflections: Equilibrium, Shiver: Vanishing Hitchhiker, and Timeless: The Lost Castle. I do have maybe a dozen others tagged for Replay.

EDIT: Forgot about Amaranthine: Winter Neverending.

Thanks for that list, Reenie. Duly noted.

Many thanks. I don't recall ever trying F.A.C.E.S. so I think I'll do so today.

Edited to add: I downloaded the trial and discovered I already own the game. I like Vogat so I'm going to replay in spite of stereotypical medical grunge.

I've just started the last game of my "Myths of the World" series re-play

[ And "Of Fiends and Fairies" is what I saved for the grand finale ]

Then after that I'll enjoy choosing the next series to re-play

Fantastic! You have arrived at the last leg of your journey.

I wonder what the next series you choose will be.

I might just do the Haunted Hotels, Marian .... Mix it up a little after some non scary stuff

That sounds like a good idea.

"I decided last night to replay my Dark Parables games - if I follow through on it, that will be a mammoth replay as well!"

I'm so sorry, Marian. I forgot to ask if you started your mammoth re-play - and how it's going if you did ??

Cheers.

Mad

It's still a work in progress, Mad.

Well I hope you are enjoying yourself, Marian

I am.

Well I'm into the second game of my Haunted Hotel re-plays and have now nearly finished "Charles Dexter Ward"

I'd forgotten just how good this game is

[ Quite a long list for this series, too, but I'm sure I'll re-enjoy each one ]

I thought Charles Dexter Ward was terrific!

Reenie, are any of the other games in the series as good as Charles Dexter Ward? If not, which is second to it?

Sorry to be so slow in responding 8dog, but I've been ill and have not been on line. This is a copy/paste of my comments on that series of games. Remember, this is just one person's impression:

Haunted Hotel: Charles Ward = Darned good, excellent puzzles, complex, long. Replay.
Haunted H.: Phoenix = Played Demo: Not that compelling, didn't buy.
Haunted H.: Axiom Butcher = Played Demo: Didn't bite.
Haunted H.: Personal Nightmare = Played Demo: Decided against it. Tired of the haunted theme.

Thanks, Reenie. I had the same impression. I kept trying them hoping one would measure up.

In my Haunted Hotel re-plays I am now onto my third .... one called "Death Sentence".
And I am quite enjoying it - apart from the "achievements" and "Collectables" etc within it, which I am valiantly trying to ignore

Good point, Mad. Never give up on a series if you liked one game in it. Other series, like Twilight Phenomenon, Surface, Reflections, and Bridge to Another World, have had games that I panned in my record-keeping but also have had other games I gave the highest ratings to among the genre. And Dark Parables, which generally is very good (I've played ten of them), had one that I noted, "Interesting, but way too easy. Just pokes along. Bailed on demo," and two that I noted, "Don't even remember it" (which means I added no comments after finishing). It must depend entirely on the makeup of a given game's development team?

It has also been my experience that sometimes games actually improve after what would be the demo portion of the game. The catch there is that you have to purchase the game in order to discover this.

As I don't maintain such detailed records as you, Reenie, with regard to my games, I will more than likely risk buying one purely because I like the sound of it

[I very, very rarely play demos.]

And I certainly do tend to go on and buy all those released as a series if, after I've played one, I liked it

Yes, I also will try a game from a series I haven't enjoyed previously, after a decent time interval has passed. I use the Trial Game option to see if the series has improved AND because a good series can still have a stinker in it. I usually have at least one game active on the computer, for when a little diversion is appealing. I play one every other week or so. At this point, I have close to 400 games in my database. Even if you buy every game at at Two-Fer Sale, and get them for only $7 (I prefer the CE version), that adds up over the years! No sense in throwing away your money.

I started to keep this database in 2014 after a couple of times buying a game for the SECOND time (the first purchase being as a hard disk in a computer store or game store ~ remember those days?) There simply are too many to keep straight or remember. Just takes a minute to enter my comments.

I think it's great that you make comments on all that you have tried/played, Reenie. I may just start doing that myself.

Hi.

Oh, right from the start I've tended to buy from Big Fish only when they've been running a sale because I feel the prices (as at most other download places) are high for download games - considering there are no physical elements or shipping costs involved.
And so far, even over all the years I've been buying, I seem to have been lucky as I've ended up with very few duds indeed.
Even though I don't bother with demos

But the record keeping of my whole game collection really only consists of a list of titles.
So I am nowhere near as industrious as you, Reenie

And good luck to you, Marion, if you decide to go down the full scale route that Reenie uses. [Phew !!]

It isn't an arduous endeavor, Mad. If you know how to create a Word spreadsheet, then it is only a matter of taking a minute (or less!) to entering the name and a "review" comment on each game as you play it. I consult it now whenever considering buying a game because there are SO many that I can't remember what I already have played, otherwise. Prevents the wasted time of downloading only to find I've played it. Time saver, for sure.

Yes. I realise it wouldn't be an odorous task, Reenie, if I had started it years ago and all I had to do was keep it updated.
But to start a spreadsheet now would be more than I could face

Boy, I sure agree with you there! Hard to remember the games themselves, much less what things about them were good or bad. I would not try to go back and recreate the list.

Well good for you for creating that spread sheet it in the first place, Reenie !!

By the way, I discovered the Sable Maze series recently. Wow. Have played Twelve Fears and Sullivan River, so far, and both were darned good. Sullivan River had some tasty puzzles! Even though Twelve Fears was an SE, it still was good, creative interpretation of HO scenes, and longer than most SE versions. I probably will replay both of them later.

So I bought Norwich Cave a couple of days ago, and am playing that now. Loving it! Every HO scene is a puzzle, not just a hunt-for-the-screwdriver thing. There is some wacky use of inventory that tickles me. The mini-games are all easy, but the game is looooong. I've been pecking away at it and still can tell I am only a little more than halfway through it. I most definitely will replay this one at a later date!

I recently played Harrowed Halls: Lakeview Lane and I thought the length was quite epic! It took me a long time to get through it without using hints or skips. This is from the same developer as Sable Maze - Daily Magic. Really good value for money, especially if you buy it during a BOGO sale.

Thanks, Marian. I will look up that one.

One of the reviewers said it took them 6-1/2 hours to play the main game and another 1-1/2 hours for the bonus game. I don't know whether they used hints/skips, though.

I never time myself when I'm playing, do you? I just enjoy the game. Yes, I don't use Skips, either, but I have used a Hint now and then, to figure out where to go next. Sometimes, the wandering gets to be a bit much. ha ha

No, I don't time myself. There have been a few HOPA games that have kept track of the amount of time I played so I was aware of it then, but do I remember the names of those games? No.

Thanks Reenie. You've got me adding the Sable Maze games to my "to buy" list.

I usually try to keep loose track of the time it takes me to play a game.

Done half my "Haunted Hotel" re-plays now ( there are a LOT of them ) and am currently nearing the end of the last "Cadenza" in THAT series.

Been seriously neglecting my Adventures and RPGs though !!
However, another delight in store when I start to play catch up

It sounds like you are having a lot of fun, Mad. I am still replaying the Dark Parables series and have finished 3 or 4 other HOPAs as well - and having a great time doing it.

On their Facebook page, Big Fish announced today that one of the new CEs this week is going to be:

Haunted Hotel XV: The Evil Inside.

Oh, heck !! You really shouldn't have told me that, Marian !!

[ Glad you are enjoying your Dark Parables and others besides ]

Marian, I tried the Trial Game on one of the new Dark Parables (Ballad of Rapunzel), and was wowed! It is another great successor to the previous games: fine graphics, intricate concept, adult in appeal, pesky mini-games, etc. I definitely will buy that one, and probably Goldilocks and Star as well (these are the only two I haven't played already). The series can seem a bit repetitive if you play too many of them in a row, but seldom have I found a series that is more certain to provide hours of head-scratching but beautiful gaming. Of the ten I have played already, only one (The Thief and the Tinderbox) was disappointing. That is quite a run!

That is a very good track record for the Dark Parables series, Reenie. Enjoy your new finds.

Looking at YouTube, I can see that there is another Dark Parables game in the works.

I'd just added the Dark Parables Series to my special "for re-play" collection and now a new one has been released - as well as the new Haunted Hotel

I'm never going to catch up at this rate

I love the Haunted Hotel Series and will definitely buy the new one when it is available. I had been trying so hard to quit buying new games from Big Fish, but this week I have bought at least 1/2 a dozen. They are so addicting...

I so agree with you that they are addicting, Sharon.

Had been thinking about replaying some of my series games and I think after I play some of the new games I bought I will also replay the Haunted Hotel series. To start with. Then maybe Mystery Trackers. So many games and I have time to play!!

Re-playing "tales of Glass and Ink" now

I'd Forgotten just how much I like this game

I have that game in my Purchase History and haven't played it yet, I am embarrassed to say. Now I will check it out, for sure!

I'm sure you will like it, Marian