I started this old series in April. I'm enjoying the games but this 4th one (The Skyward Castle) is wearing me out. I'm finding myself not knowing what to do or where to go and tonight I actually had to use an Excel spreadsheet to work out a puzzle. I've also used the hint button quite a bit which is something I don't do too often. I'll be glad to finish this game and am hoping the next three aren't as hard.

I have played a couple of the games in this series but not all of them. The ones that I played were very good. Someone else will have to weigh in on the difficulty level of the later games, as I played a couple of the earlier ones.

I replayed the very first game in the series recently and still found it very enjoyable.

Good luck with the rest of the series!

Thanks Marian. I like the game. I think my brain is just too tired and worn out though.

Why didn't you ever play the rest of them if you liked the earlier ones?

The simple answer to your question is that I have too many games demanding my attention. I actually replayed the first game a while ago thinking that I would go through the entire series. Just not in a row.

Oh, I don't go straight in a row on any series. That would make me crazy I think. I have to play things in between. That's why I'm only on the 4th game and started the series in 4 months ago.

Right. Like your playthrough of the Nancy Drew games. I think it's a good approach.

I started Awakening: The Golden Age Collector's Edition this evening - I figured why not, being as talking about this reminded me of the series. Spent about three hours on it and I'm really enjoying it.

I played the seven games in this series that I know of, and now wonder if there are more. They are pretty uneven, and I liked Sunhook Spire the most, because it was long, had great puzzles, and wasn't overloaded with HO scenes. I like a game when it forces me to take out pen and paper or even resort to cutting up pieces (like tangram) and figuring out how to put them together correctly. Some of the earlier games in this series felt a bit short to me. Sunhook was a long game, in terms of it taking me a couple of days to get through it. Golden Age and Redleaf Forest were the next tier down. The only game in the series that I disliked was Goblin Kingdom because it was too easy and too "cutesy" for my taste. I bailed on the Demo for that one.

Thanks for your input Reenie. Sunhook Spire is next on the list. I finished Skyward Castle the other day after skipping one puzzle (which I most never do). I enjoy using pen and paper while gaming but I did find Skyward Castle to be a bit tedious. It repeated several of the puzzles several times and it finally just got too much for me.

Everyone always says they play casual games because they are more relaxing and don't make you think as much, but for me, sometimes they seem harder than adventure games .

Sometimes, I don't think the game designers realize how difficult a puzzle is after they have created it. As for me, I love the games with real head-scratchers, and, like you, have frequently resorted to graph paper or a calculator or some other means to solve them. I happily will put in an hour or more trying to figure out and then solve a puzzle, but if it is simply random movements that you have to shuffle your way through over and over, it starts being a chore rather than a challenge. My husband knows I am really happy with a BF game when he sees me pull out paper, colored pencils, scissors, tape or a calculator to solve a puzzle.

I've only played seven of the Awakening games, and wasn't maintaining a Comments list on the early ones, like Golden Age. I have no notes on Skyward Castle, either. The game I thought had the best puzzles was Sunhook Spire, and that was an excellent, challenging and long game overall. Second and third are Golden Age and Redleaf Forest. I bailed on the demo for Goblin Kingdom because I found it too cartoony and cutesy, so have no notes on it at all.

Thanks for your input Reenie. I am actually preparing to start Sunhook Spire, hopefully today. I can't believe it's almost a month already since I finished the last game.

I think this can be explained at least in part by assuming that people who make such a statement just use the skip button on the puzzles. Which is a shame, really, because many of the puzzles are quite interesting and I imagine they take a good bit of time to create. If you are not constantly hitting the skip button, these games become considerably more challenging.

I finished Sunhook Spire 2 days ago. I didn't find it tedious but did still find myself not knowing at all what to do in places and after clicking all inventory on things at times, shaking my head in wonder at why something worked. I didn't skip any puzzles but I sure am getting more comfortable with the hint button.

Definitive proof that there are some challenging casual games out there, if any more proof was needed.

Which might slightly contradict the text under the Casuals Board Title ??

"Do you enjoy playing those 'coffee break games'? Talk about it here."

Getting to be rather more than that description these days I reckon ??

Yep! Some days I like the more challenging games, and some days I don't!

Me too, oldbroad, although I get plenty of challenges from my Adventures and RPG's so I do tend to want a more relaxed time when I fire up a Casual

I finally started the last game of this series today. I looked back at my notes and see that I started the series exactly 11 months ago. Wow, time sure does fly! I knew I had a long break between the 6th and 7th (this last one) but was quite surprised to see how long it is taking me to play this one series. Lots of games inbetween but still!

Congratulations on getting to the last game in the series, oldbroad. I thought the entire series was very good overall.

I have loved this series because the games are long and thoughtful, adult in style and not overloaded with HO scenes. Have played seven games, with the one I liked best being Sunhook Spire. I already replayed that one! Except for Dreamless Castle, the games are long and complex, with note-taking esssential, like a real Adventure game. Goblin Kingdom was a bit cartoonish for my taste.

I, too, like this series and have played many of the games

I started The Golden Age today and am quite enjoying it

I played The Golden Age about six months ago and really liked it.

I haven't played in a few days because I had to finish Contract with the Devil. I don't usually play 2 casuals at the same time but had started this game in one computer while downloading something in the other. I'll probably get back to it today. It did start out well though!

I'm still playing The Golden Age and am enjoying it to some degree but don't like it as much as others that I've played in the series. There seem to be a lot more hidden object screens

I agree about The Golden Age. I marked it as being "Better than most HOs, but could improve" when I played it in 2014. The series improved since then.

I liked it a lot, with or without the hidden object scenes.

Well one person won't always like things as much as another but I'm glad YOU liked it Marian

I went back to the game last night and was having a real hard time remembering what it was about, where I was and why, and how to proceed. I was able to move on in the game but still don't remember the beginning of it.

That happens to me, too, oldbroad - and often if I've only had a short break !!

Me, too, Mad. Yikes.

On the "up" side ....

Because I can forget lots about a game I've played, it can be like playing a new one if I re-play it !!

Oh yes, that helps a lot! I usually let two years pass before returning to one I've marked for "Replay." Besides, the mini-games are always a challenge no matter how many times you've played them. haha

Two years ???? A few weeks is enough for me to forget stuff - in games, that is

Otherwise my memory is decent and completely normal.

So maybe I suffer from a form of "selective amnesia" in my gaming world ??

EDIT :

I'm on my next game now. Another I haven't played before. And am liking it much more.
It's "Hidden Expedition : Dawn of Prosperity"

I'm not noticing that many hidden object scenes in the game but I don't know what it has to do with the other games in the series which did seem to follow some storyline, not that that really matters to me much.

I seemed to find they increased as the game progressed, oldbroad. Though maybe not all as "bog standard" hidden Object scenes.

Or I suppose it it could just have been me not wanting as many ??

If I recall correctly, The Golden Age was supposed to be a prequel to the other games in the series.

Thanks, Marian

I had actually played some of the others before getting The Golden Age and certainly like them more.

But it's a very fortunate person who is enthralled by EVERY game they purchase

Yes, I believe it is the last game but a prequel, something I just never understand! I'll eventually find out if I see a link with the other games or not and if I see an increase in HO scenes.

I've certainly never been enthralled by every game I purchase.

Now that I think about it, there was a period of time where every game purchased was enthralling, and it was the last quarter of 1995: Phantasmagoria, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within, Stonekeep, Torin's Passage, Shivers, and Shannara. Wow!

That's for sure. I do take the time to play the Demo on almost every game, and have weeded out a lot on that basis. Still, they are "Casuals," and one wonders if the attitude toward their creation is also casual. Many are only tolerable and a few got some pretty snarky comments in my little database. ha ha But I love them, nevertheless. They suit my erratic playing style, and I've been hooked on them these past ten years or so. I tend to wait for sales, when I'll buy in twos or fours, so I think their cost is fair, given they tend to last 6 to 10 hours, and that is far longer than going to the movies. The really good ones, I replay as well.

Yes. I agree about that period, Marian. Fabulous games all !!!!

Well, I just finished this and didn't find too many HO scenes and the ones that were in it were quite good anyway (not regular stuff).

I did end up skipping the last mini puzzle of the main game. I really should have got out of the game as it was about 1:30 am and I was just too tired to deal with it then. I usually will use the guide rather than skip a puzzle but I got frustrated and mashed on the skip button over and over (like clicking it once wasn't enough ). Anyway though, the guide did not work properly showing only one page and no way I could figure out how to turn the page.

I also had a problem with the bonus chapter in that the game ended very abruptly before I did everything. So, I Googled and found a YouTube video to watch the end. Sure enough there was an item in inventory that I did not have that was supposed to eat tree bugs. When I cut the guy/goblin/whatever down from the tree, the game ended and I had not gotten rid of those bugs. Even in the walkthrough video, the ending was quite abrupt.

Oh well. On to something else .

It does sound like you enjoyed the game for the most part, which is a good thing.

i played and finished Awakening: The Golden Age Collector's Edition, had 2 bugs or glitches, 1. Once you reach the Forest Portal, both the hint button and the map's available actions function stop working. Both keep saying there's something to do at the Forest Portal, and the hint button will only transport you there, long after you're done there. 2 ii never got thee bugs off the tree with the wolf.