I am starting a new thread (part seven) of What Casual Games Are You Playing Right Now? so that we can continue our discussion, as the previous thread was getting quite long.

For those wishing to read the previous thread which was part six, it can be found here.

Laughed out loud while playing Twilight Phenomena (Lodgers) when the ape guy did the hand signal that he was keeping his eyes on me. It's a nice little game, a lot of puzzles but not too hard. I'm still playing.

I finished Twilight Phenomena: The Lodgers of House 13 tonight. I think I will start Spirit Legends: Finding Balance tomorrow. I have also been playing RestorArt: Fairwood Hills and Summer in Italy Mosaic Edition as well as some "paint" games, and still working on Secret Investigations: Revelation.

Glad you enjoyed the Twight game, oldbroad.
I’m nearly at the end of the bonus chapter of my second one - Strange Menagerie - and will then play the last of the three 👍
(And if there were more, I’d have just carried on !! 😬)

Glad to hear you liked the Lodgers of House 13, ob!

And I do wish there had been more in this series.

I just finished The Legacy: Forgotten Gates CE. I always enjoy 5 BN games.

Next is Shop it Up! This has been in my Purchase History for over a decade and it's time to play it.

Don't spend all your money, Marian! I had to look Shop It Up up because I don't have it. No wonder; time management.

Yes, it's time management. Level 19 out of 75. Not sure how far I will get with it, but it will be fun to see.

I have been working around some internet issues since yesterday. Yesterday we had an outage lasting 6-1/2 hours and then it came back. Today it was out for about 9-1/2 hours and then it came back again, within 30 minutes of when it came back on Saturday. I put in a work order yesterday and the earliest they could get anyone over here is tomorrow morning. Anyway, it's kept the weekend interesting. Hopefully tomorrow something will get fixed.

Heck, Marian !!

I hope it gets sorted for you very quickly 🤞🤞🤞

Yes, I hope so too, Marian! Some days I lose my connection on and off all day but I don't know for sure if it's my internet or my computer.

I should NEVER play these Mosaic games. I just spent about 5 hours playing and kept telling myself to stop and play something else. The last couple of nights I was falling asleep but kept trying to complete a level. They really rope me in, just like a Match 3 does.

Please remind me to never get started on Mosaic games.

Thank you both for your good wishes on my internet. Hopefully it will be a simple fix.

I finished Spirit Legends: Finding Balance. I think I will play Shtriga: Summer Camp next.

I played Shtriga: Summer Camp a few years ago and enjoyed it overall.

I am still playing Shop it Up! and I have also started European Mystery: Flowers of Death, which so far is a very nice game.

I finished RestorArt and Summer in Italy Mosaics yesterday. Tonight I finished Shtriga. It was pretty good, a lot to do it seemed like. I did skip one puzzle after a not too long time that I wasn't sure I was doing right. I sure wasn't getting anywhere with it anyway.

I think I will play Tearstone 2: Thieves of the Heart next.

I haven't played Tearstone 2.

I am liking European Mystery: Flowers of Death a lot - I think it's just really nicely done. I will for sure play the other two games in the series.

I have the European Mystery games installed on my Win 7. Hopefully, I will get to them one of these days.

And now I made the mistake of starting Jewel Match Origins: Palais Imperial According to Steam I played for 3.9 hours.

I finished Tearstone 2 and will move on to Mystery Trackers: Blackrow's Secret next.

What did you think of Tearstone 2?

I started Mystery of the Ancients: Curse of the Black Water and played for five hours yesterday. This is my second time playing the game.

Tearstone 2 was enjoyable. If you liked the first game, you'll like this one. They're both good, but not games that stand out to me and stay in my mind. In fact, I couldn't remember what the first game was about and had to look it up to refresh my memory before I started the second game, and I played it earlier this year, not years ago. I didn't find all of the collectibles but that didn't affect anything so I don't care.

I haven't played any of the Mystery of the Ancients games yet, though I do have some of them installed and waiting.

I have Scent of Desire and The Face of Envy - and, of course, can't remember if I've played either one

[So it's a case of saving up my pennies now, if I want the other one 👀]

Thanks for the rundown on Tearstone 2, ob.

Mad, I started keeping a list of casual games played and finished; I started the list in March 2020. Otherwise, I would not remember for sure what games I have played either. Number of games finished in a little more than five years is 391. That number amazes me - it doesn't seem like that many at all.

Marian, is that number just casual games? To date from 2020, I have played (or am playing) 326 casuals. The number includes some games that are never ending (such as jigsaw puzzles games) so it's not exactly accurate.

I started keeping my played list in 2018 and I list adventures as well as casuals. I keep each year on a separate spreadsheet tab and do some sorts on it here and there so at the end of the year I can tally up the adventures and the casuals separately.

That number was just for casual games, ob.

Having long since retired from my profession in Accounting - and now also my voluntary accounts work, I find myself reluctant to initiate spreadsheets or any other sensible way of cataloguing my huge collection of games.

I'm just content to be totally unprofessional about the whole thing

However, I have caved in and bought the remaining European Mystery game - so that's how strong willed I AM !!!!

So understandable, Mad!

Mad

My list is just a notepad list that I keep on my desktop - very primitive, and nothing fancy about it at all. I have no desire whatsoever to look at spreadsheets!

I started Small Town Terrors: Livingston yesterday. I had tried it for about 10 minutes a couple of times in the past and was put off by the fact that it starts out in a grungy-looking hospital setting. I am really glad that I decided to persist this time because the game got a lot better and now I am quite enjoying it. It is well done and has reasonable puzzles and good use of inventory (no moon logic). I will try to remember in future not to dismiss a game so hastily and give it more time before making that decision.

Just took a look at it. Seems it has a 'health meter.' Does that mean if you run out of health it's game over? I don't like that.

Heavens, no. It is a very simple thing where you have a certain amount of health at any given time and can gain more health by finding first aid kits and other stuff to boost your health. There are a few tasks in the game that require a certain amount of health before you can perform them. It does not detract from the game at all and there is no pressure or anything, including no dying. I think it's actually kind of fun.

I am finding it to be just a pleasant, solid game that is not a Collector's Edition. I am pretty sure I picked it up with a free game code (this game came out in 2012 on Big Fish).

I am pretty sure that I enjoyed all of the Small Town Terror games although, off hand, I can't remember what they were about. Even your mention of this "health meter" doesn't ring a bell.

I finished Mystery Trackers: Blackrow's Secret and have a very brief start on Mountain Crime Requital. Hopefully, I will get farther into that today.

Mountain Crime Requital is something that I have been thinking of picking up for years. Please let us know what you think of it.

Will do!

That WAS the kind of list I started, years ago, but which hardly ever gets updates these days.

[Shame On Me !! ]

I finished Jewel Match Origins: Palais Imperial very early this morning before going to bed at around 5 am. It took me a short while to get into because there is a lot of bling but then it was enjoyable, however three times when I exited out of the game my computer was froze up and I had to use my windows key to shut down or restart my computer. Could not use my mouse to get to the start button area nor could I use task manager once I remembered to try Control/Alt/Delete to get there. It would not shut down. I was able to use the mouse to power off once I used the windows key to get there. Steam game if that means anything.

I just now finished Mountain Crime: Requital. It was an interesting game and I did enjoy it, but ... I did get lost trying to follow the story and some things didn't seem right (like some of the conversations and some other little things). Also, while the main character's voice was nice enough, I did not think it went well at all with the character. Most of the puzzles were easy enough. I did not need any hints or skips. It is certainly worth playing though, especially if you already have the game in your library.

Thank you for that very nice description of Mountain Requital. It sounds like it's worth a look.

I don't have that Jewel Match Origins game, but I am sorry it was freezing like that. Congrats on finishing!

I am playing House of 1000 Doors: Serpent Flame and am in the bonus game now. A great game, one that I only played once years ago upon release. I am really enjoying it.

And I just finished Secret Investigations: Revelation which I have been playing since 2021 .

I played House of 1000 Doors: Serpent Flame some time last year.

I'm not yet sure what I will play next. I'm thinking Darkarta: A Broken Heart's Quest which I have installed from Steam on my Win 7 computer. The last of the Steam games I will probably be playing on there although I did leave a couple of Adventure games installed. Most of the Steam games got uninstalled when they stopped supporting Win 7 and I was going to uninstall Steam but then I didn't.

Definitely worthy of a major reward!

I have Darkarta but haven't played it yet.

I finished Darkarta today. It was on the different side and had some different puzzles, both things I usually like in a game but, I didn't really like the game much.

I also started Twin Minds: Nobody's Here today. It seems okay so far.

That is interesting, your impression of Darkarta. I have often asked myself why I haven't given it a whirl and for some reason it did not look terribly appealing to me, even though it had mostly good reviews. Maybe I will check it out this year.

I finished House of 1000 Doors: Serpent Flame and then played Eternal Journey: New Atlantis again.

Now I am playing Myths of the World: Under the Surface.

I'd really like to know what you think of Darkarta if you get around to playing it, Marian. Has anybody else reading this played? If so, how did you like it? I can't really put my finger on why I didn't like it too much.

I haven't played any Myths of the World games yet.

You know I like the Mosaics games so I bought some Fantasy Mosaics games at the Steam sale and have been playing one of those into the wee hours of the morning. But I also bought some of the Nonograms games and have done a few of them so far. They are pretty hard! No color changing when you get stuck. It's just the one grid.

I will be sure to let you know what I think of Darkarta when I get around to playing it.

It sounds like you are enjoying your Mosaics and nonograms.

I finished Myths of the World: Under the Surface. It was a nice game. Eipix maintained a certain level of consistency in the quality of their games.

Now I am playing Icebound Secrets: The Frostwood Bane. I was initially not all that interested in this game, knowing that it was a mobile game that had been ported to PC. However, I am finding it quite good. No voiceovers but I adjusted quite quickly to that, and I am glad that I picked it up. So far it's playing more like adventure lite.

That's good to know, Marian. I haven't bought Icebound Secrets yet. It's on my list. I haven't hit the BOGO yet. Trying to decide. I've let too many games build up on my "to buy" list and now I've spent a lot of money at Steam.

Decisions, decisions...

Well, Icebound Secrets was a pretty long game and well worth the asking price. No strategy guide but I never needed one. I did skip several puzzles due to lack of patience. It was indicated there would be a sequel and I will certainly pick it up if there is one.

Now I am playing Mystery Murders: The Sleeping Palace, a game that 8dognight recommended in the Casual Games Recommendations thread. I picked it up a few years ago after reading what she said about it, and I am glad that I did. A very nice HOPA that is well put together. I would recommend it. Interestingly the developer is Casual Arts, creators of the Park Ranger and Cruise Director series among others. Mystery Murders appears to have been their only HOPA.

I played Mystery Murders: The Sleeping Palace last year but I don't really remember it. There is also a Mystery Murders: Jack the Ripper which I played a few years back, also developed by Casual Arts.

I finished the main game of Twin Minds: Nobody's Here but still have to play the bonus chapter. I don't like that they have "choices" in the games and if you choose one thing you might miss some stuff. I also finished the Fantasy Mosaics game I was playing. Mostly it was fine but there were some grids that you had to guess at and when I made a mistake with my guess it ticked me off!

Oh yes, I wasn't even associating this "Mystery Murders" thing as being part of a series. Thanks for the reminder (and I do have Mystery Murders: Jack the Ripper, which I haven't yet played).

I think the idea of the "choose one thing" is that it gives the game some replay value. Which might hold some appeal if I only had 10 games in my Purchase History (!).

I don't like those grids where you have to guess. But they always seem to crop up somewhere.

There is no guessing with the Nonograms game (at least not yet). The grids go to 35 x 35 I think, but I have only done some 20 x 20's so far. My only problem with the game is it is hard to see if some of the cells are filled in or not and I've made a couple of mistakes counting because I just couldn't see them right. I know I can change the background but I don't know about the actual grid and cell coloring. I'll have to check it out. I like it though!

I hope you are able to change the grid and cell coloring. Not being able to make things out can be frustrating.

I just finished Mystery Murders: The Sleeping Palace and I loved it. I needed a little nudge towards the very end of the game because I was trying to put an item on a wall without success. I looked at a walkthrough and I just needed to place the item a tiny bit higher above the place where I was clicking. Aside from that, I only skipped a puzzle or two and had a great time otherwise.

Next up is Dark Angels: Masquerade of Shadows.

Thanks Marian. I did figure out how to change the coloring so it is easier on my eyes.

I had to look at part of a video to refresh my memory of The Sleeping Palace. I'm quite sure I enjoyed the game also. I'm glad you had fun with it!

I finished Twin Minds: Nobody's Here. I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but I really didn't. I think I liked the first Twin Minds game a lot but these next three went straight downhill for me. Maybe I am just a cranky old lady.

I have Dark Angels from Steam but haven't played it yet. I hope you like it.

I think I am going to play Dracula's Legacy next. I also moved Matchventures 3 icon to my desktop so I may start that soon.

I have played Dracula's Legacy and I did enjoy it.

I haven't played all the Twin Minds games so can't venture an opinion on that.

I know I have the first Matchventures game but not sure about the other two. Will check.

Dark Angels has been fun so far. I was surprised to hear Lani Minella doing voiceovers in this game.