Today's game for Club Members, tomorrow's game for all.

You can download The Andersen Accounts: Chapter One Collector's Edition here.



As always, please remember to come back and tell us what you think.

Happy gaming!

Thanks, Marian.

Ana

I'm putting this one on my "to buy" list. I like the sound and look of it (from the video and one review).

It does sounds interesting. I had a coupon code for a free CE, so I picked it up.

"As always, please remember to come back and tell us what you think."

Ummm.....right.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to play some today.

I echo the request because the premise and back story to Andersen Accounts capture the imagination.

Nevertheless, I have finished the demo and think the graphics visually irritating. For example, while an HO screen was embedded deftly in the narrative as a 911 call, the images themselves were translucent pink and when located vanished in a squirt of black ink. In addition, the action seems oddly choppy. I would sink happily into the Andersen Accounts milieu if stylistically rendered more like some of the older Ravenhearst series minus the blues and purples often found therein.

I'm waiting on this one, so someone, please play it.

Just finished the Demo, it was short, well I did skip all but one puzzle since I like to play them in full when I buy a game, this way I do not feel rushed. I agree with 8dognight regarding some of the HOs with it's weird colours, and not to mention that I get the impression there may be a lot of HOs.

So I am on the fence on this one, I love new games/series because the Devs. try to come up with new/fresh ideas and I wan't to encourage them, so like 8dognight I will wait a bit to read more reviews from the BF forum and this great Forum to get a better feel of the game.

All said, I might wind up buying this game but only on a BOGO sale.

Thank you for the comments, Starcom. I hope to get to this game soon - I am still in the process of replaying New York Mysteries: Secrets of the Mafia and enjoying it as much or more than I did the first time around. As soon as I move on to Andersen Accounts, I will post my thoughts about it.

The graphical style in Andersen Accounts reminds me a lot of the style in the new Mystery Case Files: Revenant's Hunt. The style is hard edged and pared down while the subject matter demands ornate, Rococo, Baroque, or Medieval finished and differenced with a flourish of trumpets and platoon of gargoyles, and most definitely not lackluster hallways or alleys. It's as if Brutalist architecture has rolled its tanks over Ludwig's castles and Gothic Revival. In short, the look of the Andersen Accounts is boring.

Thanks, Marian. I gave the video a look, and I like the cinematography. It seems a bit rushed, but I'm hoping that is only the result of cramming as much as possible into a one-minute Sampler. I do enjoy a game more if it is situated in an environment with which I can identify to some extent, and is not simply another totally "fantastic" realm.

I agree with that sentiment. Nonetheless, the drab visuals make the gameplay in Andersen Accounts dreary.

And it’s pretty clear Eipix knows that grungy quotidian urban will only go so far to entice immersion; otherwise that alluring wolf and Red Riding Hood headed silver cryptex shown at the end of the demo would be some sort of double-whammy, secret double-probation encryption app rendered as a simple icon on a low resolution phone screen, rather like the HOS on the TV in the bar.

I want Andersen Accounts to succeed and enthrall as fantasy noir, a genre I remember seeing a fair amount of in sci/fi magazines and novels in the 1950s and 60s. A more recent example is Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, and there are many other neo-noir sci/fi fantasy novels I have not read. I haven’t kept up with the genre, obviously. I’m a person who went to see the movie “Blade Runner” and then huffily tried to explain to my husband that the movie and Alan Nourse’s novel had nothing in common. After that, I never reread Philip K. Dick, whose "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was the actual basis of the movie.

Something about the gritty earnestness of regular noir begs for fantasy send-ups irresistible to some writers. That’s easy to see in the Dresden Files, and Tex Murphy himself is a wise-cracking first cousin of this tangential genre.

Trench coats and pentagrams work better if the characters and plot lines don't take themselves too seriously unless the world is fully realized intellectually which is probably why the more modern fantasy noir and fantasy novels invite willing suspension of disbelief more readily than the average fantasy HOPA.

HOPAs are preeminently visual experiences. I am not at all sure I can or will play an entire game where HOs located on hazy screens are dispelled with a rush of black ink that might come from a squid or fountain pen unloading which is why I keep hoping that someone who has played the full game will let us know if the entirety is worthwhile.

I broke down and bought it.

The visuals improve after the demo. I haven't finished the game.

Resistance is sometimes futile.

I have just been too busy this past week to start the game in earnest. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about it.

Me, too. I haven't bought it yet, either. I've been trying to curb my spending on these games to only three or four a month.

Marian, play Stolen Runes instead. You already own it.

Reenie, try Turning Thorn if you have something it will run on.

Andersen Accounts is not getting enough better to justify the buy. I could kick myself.

Marian said: "Resistance is sometimes futile."

I reply: Not when it comes to important issues. On those I remain an old lady ready to woman the barricades.

8dognight, I did try Turning Thorn, despite its level of creepy-brutal that usually prevents me from buying a game. It was a darned good game, but something about it was buggy, and it kept popping up with glitches. I eventually gave up, bailed on it and got a refund from BF.

Turning Thorn runs like a champ on my old Windows 7 laptop. I remember that it was buggy the first time I played it, too. I don't remember whether that was on the same laptop, which would mean there was a new build thereafter, or whether I first tried on a yet older laptop.

Funny you mention creepy-brutal because that usually rules out games for me as well. The lightness and deftness of the writing makes Turning Thorn an exception for me.

Back to Andersen Accounts, I closed the game a few minutes ago after being asked to find 8 wrenches in an HO screen. I could have forgiven that if just previously, I had not engaged in one of those fight scenes where you have to clicketty click to charge a strength bar. My tolerance had been wearing thin earlier over a different tool box HO.

I agree with 8dognight on this one, although not all HO screens were eye sores, there were just too many of them for my taste and made me lose interest in the game and like 8dognight said, which is weird, I also lost interest in the game at the same point 8dognight did, too bad, it had promise, and unless they make major changes in Chapter Two, I will NOT be buying the next chapter....

Wither Eipix?

Is a garage mechanic or someone who dreamed of being one and had to go into computer games instead designing these games?

In desperation, I gave this game another shot after giving up on it due to tool HO overload, only to immediately thereafter take into inventory two garage tokens and a wrench adapter. I shouldn't need a wrench adapter. I just found 8 of them, not to mention a lot of other tools. I realize wrenches come in different shapes and callibrations but there is nothing fun about them and playing on the frustration of not putting tools back in their assigned places.

If you don't have enough wrenches in your life, this is the definitive game for you.

<groan> Sorry you are enduring such a miserable game, but thanks for letting the rest of us know what it stinker it is. I decided not to play the Demo game after reading your comments.

On a brighter note, I loved the start of the game Inception of Darkness: Exorcist III so much that I stopped playing the Demo and bought it on the spot. Thanks for that tip. It is very a"adventure"-like, despite having a couple of HO scenes already.

You are really making me look forward to this game, 8dognight.

Having said that, I plan on picking up Exorcist 3 with a coupon code. I was unaware of the fact that the three Exorcist games were developed by Deep Shadows.

I found out there is no Walkthrough for this game (Exorcist III), and I am pretty stuck at one puzzle. I hate to skip puzzles, but can't make this one work (Picking a lock on a gate). Just thought I'd let you know that, if you get stuck, you are pretty much on your own. I even went looking for videos on YouTube, and there are a few, but they don't show this puzzle.

I don't know if it would help or not, but there are one or two discussions about the gate lock puzzle on the Big Fish forum for the game.

Thanks, hon. I did find that Forum thread. I had already figured out that I could scroll off the screen to avoid getting caught, and that was the only help it offered (still if you hadn't figured that out, there would be no way to go more than a couple of moves).

I had gotten halfway through it a couple of times, but cannot get to the end. I guess I'll keep trying, and if not successful, I'll have to skip it. Grrrr. I hate skipping puzzles.

It is a pretty good game, otherwise.

I've forgotten the gate lock puzzle. Is that the one with the incredibly clever early clue?

Gosh, I don't remember a clue. It is where you have to advance a token laterally while the tokens in vertical columns also rotate and hitting one sends you back Home, to try again. I was in a bad mood yesterday, after trying repeatedly. Am going back to try it again today though...

Must be a puzzle later in the game. I guess I'll reload the game and see if I skipped it. The gate is on the path off to left of the tent, isn't it?

Yep, that's the one. It doesn't have a simple answer, like, "Choose the blue box." After some subsequent thought, I believe it would be difficult to give anyone a meaningful, helpful nudge.

I'm downloading the game again because I'm curious to see if I skipped the puzzle. I'll remember once I see it.

Also I'm waiting to download Miazma and reconciling myself to the fact it probably won't run.

Why don't you think it will run?
The computer I tested it on was 7 years old and had no problem with it.

8dognight, I decided to skip the gate puzzle because, when I went back to it, it would not let me reset it. So I have gone on. Have since drained a cave and then been trapped in it and escaped (I used my pickaxe once and then it disappeared, but I need it again ~ grrr. I also lost my bucket, which I now need again.

Went on out of the cave, found the Standing Circle where the crystals will eventually go (?). Found a train station. Got the train running (and retrieved crystal #4), and finally found the handle to the saw so I could use it to make planks to cross the swamp and meet the hermit. I am now working to make a sleep potion for him, so I can take his crystal.

I melted some glass to make a fake red crystal but haven't yet found the mold for it. Nothing in my notes. Taking a break for now.

Aside from some odd moments, this game is terrific. It is much more like an Adventure game than a Casual. I know I will be replaying it, as exasperating as it is at times ~ mainly because the instructions for puzzles are never clear and so they are unsolvable unless you stumble on the "trick" (like the train puzzle, where you have realize that the time to set must be in "military time" and that you have to RIGHT-CLICK to rotate the puzzle pieces if you ever are going to solve it, anyway).

Like I said, more like an Adventure. Nothing is given away.

Jenny 100, this is good to hear. My concern is also RAM, not to mention my ability to screw things up.

Reenie, I'm glad you like Deep Shadows as well. I'm surprised the company is not better recognized for the production of high quality casual games. Exorcist II is pretty good, too.

These are the listed requirements at the Steam site
https://store.steampowered.com/app/774141/MIAZMA_or_the_Devils_Stone/

Minimum:
OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo / AMD Athlon 64 x2
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: 512 MB
Storage: 7 GB available space

I'd be surprised if your computer doesn't have 2 GB of RAM.
This is not a game that requires the computer to have some fancy pants $$$ latest generation video card that can generate 3D graphics on the fly in high resolution. The graphics are pre-rendered FMV and system requirements are much lower than for something like Xing or Obduction or Ethan Carter.

I don't think you'll have any trouble with it.

My computer is an old XP and I had no trouble running it.

Hi, Marian!

I was on the fence with this one and, by the time I make up my mind, the SE will probably be out and I can use a coupon ! I've become a lot more selective with the CE games I buy because, even after playing and enjoying the demo, some of them have been quite short.

Susan

Hi Susie, some of them have been on the shorter side, yes. Lately the longest games I have played were Domini games. I guess the SE version of Andersen Accounts isn't too far off - the SE version does seem to come around rather quickly.

Hi, Marian!

I wish I could remember the name of the game, but I was thoroughly enjoying it. Abruptly, 2-1/2 hours later, I was looking at the closing credits. The bonus game lasted exactly 1/2 hour, which didn't help. I was so angry I almost emailed Big Fish but, since it wasn't their fault, I thought better of it. If I don't use Game Club Credits, I never pay more than $8.99 for a CE; however, I do expect more than 3 hours of game play.

I just finished the SE of "Mystery Tales: The Other Side" (a Domini game) that I bought with a coupon and enjoyed it very much. It was a good length, although I don't remember how long it took me because I played on and off for several days.

Susan

Thank-you for optimism on Miazma.

Two Cautiously Hopeful Signs for Future Games in Andersen Accounts

1) Conceptual Messaging: Inside the office for trains that must have toted the strategic wrench reserve, I opened a wall safe haphazardly jammed with jewelry and other hand wrought items both beautiful and gaudy, all chock-a-block. The visual metaphor was clear: the bad guy, tasteless oligarchs with no appreciation or ability to discern intrinsic artistic value are looting and locking away the world's vibrancy and color. This was a well made point. In addition, some artist wag had the chutzpah to add a mercifully not grabbable bunch of wrenches secured with a fat rubber band to the back of a truck identical to one I stowed away in.

2) Puzzles: An easy puzzle moving different shapes into their allotted slots was surprisingly interesting. However, in general the puzzles need major rethinking.