The Phantasmat Games

I have all (I think) the Phantasmat games but never played any - so I fired Up "The Dread of Oakville" today and am finding it pretty good

I suppose I should have started with the first in the series. Will it matter ??

Assuming I am remembering correctly, it doesn't matter what order you play them in. I believe they are all self-contained.

And the very first Phantasmat game, even though there are more hidden object scenes than HOPAs released now, is awfully good.

Oh, thanks for that good news, Marian. I'll look forward to playing the first one then

I have tried ten of them over the years, and played eight. Some were excellent and others were too simple, too much HO, or even boring. It is as though they had different design teams working on them. I never buy one now without playing the Demo first, to see what sort of quality the game has.

I've never bothered with Demos, Reenie. I don't have the time or inclination

I do sometimes glance through the reviews at Big Fish - but mainly, if I like the look/sound of a game, I risk it !!

And not come too badly unstuck as yet. Just the occasional flop

I have also found that the demo is not necessarily a reflection of the entire game in terms of interest, puzzles, etc. I tend to not bother with demos either and so far haven't been too disappointed. I realize I am taking a small risk in terms of whether or not the game will run, but I feel that it's a reasonable risk to take. And for me it is a little too time-consuming to always play the demo first.

Hey, different strokes!

You can get a really good idea of the "tone" of of a game from the one-hour Demo. I seldom have been surprised by a large variation in tone and playing style between the Trial Game and the whole shebang, and I do have time on my hands, being retired. heh heh

Mainly, I steer away from games that are TOO heavy in HO scenes. That isn't the fun part for me. Also, I can't play games with too much ugliness, fighting or torture stuff, as it is too stressful, and have had to bail out of a game for that reason, so "Lesson Learned" there: try it first.

If I buy a game, I don't usually begin playing it immediately because I have other things on my activities list. So I also start over again under a new Player Name.

I've never tried a demo. I just buy.

Finished the Phantasmat "Dread of Oakville" game and am now playing the first one of the series

It's lookin' GOOD !!

Great!

Most of the games I've played can be played in any order. I still try to play them in the order they were released though. I don't always succeed. I sometimes discover I missed one. And have to play it out of sequence. But since they're not a serial it doesn't matter.

Thank you, GuybrushThreepwood

Something strange happened tonight when I launched Phantasmat to carry on with my playing of it.

I was taken to a place much earlier in the game than my last save (at the very least THREE saves prior to my last one) and so had to replay LOTS to get back to where I left the game last night !!

Am certainly hoping that doesn't happen again

Yikes. That has never happened to me in a casual game.

That's not good! How strange. Is your computer clock and date right?

That is weird, Mad.

I hadn't thought about the computer "time/date", oldbroad, but it IS correct.

All truly peculiar !!

It sounds like some strange glitch that, fortunately, is a rare occurrence!

And I'm hoping it STAYS rare

Finished Phantasmat earlier but am quite perplexed ....

I "remembered" some parts of this game although I thought I hadn't previously played it

It's not listed in my "Game Collection", it's not sitting on any of my shelves and it's not showing in the libraries of any Download sites I use.

So can anyone think how I could possibly have previously played it

I can't think of a way you could have played it before, Mad - unless it was available on a CD that you had at some point?