After multiple attempts throughout the day, I finally made it to the end of the obstacle course!

WOOT indeed. I am probably not looking forward to that one. I don't like the ones where you have to guide the boat to avoid logs and rocks.

Ob!

I just finished Cursery: The Crooked Man and the Crooked Cat CE.

And now I have started Hidden Portals: Eternal Balance CE.

I played Cursery: The Crooked Man and the Crooked Cat in 2023 but don't remember it at all. I do not have Hidden Portals as it is a DO Game.

I am currently taking a short break from the end of Episode 8 of Artifact Seekers as I am stuck on a puzzle. I have the correct answer (100% certain - famous last words) but I can't get it to work. It's a safe. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

As a last resort, maybe a video walkthrough on YouTube would help with that safe?

With these newer Do Games, I haven't heard of any reports of black screens for many months now. However, some of the most recent ones have no voice overs and a sizable number of people are bothered by that. Voice overs would be nice, but the lack of them is not a dealbreaker for me.

I looked at the app.gamer guide and kicked myself. I had 3 of 4 numbers. The fourth number is right there next to the other 3 but the visual is different and I didn't even think about it. I ended up with 7 stars. Missed one item to complete one of the 5 game extras for that star. There is always also a puzzle that if you do it in a certain amount of moves you get a star, and also one in a certain amount of time. I rarely get those. Then there is a "secret room" in each episode which will give you a star if you find it. I've found most of them but not all of them. This episode was hard and it took me 14 hours - for just the one episode.

Wow, that's a lot of hours spent. It sounds to me like you are doing very well.

I wonder if I would have figured out what I missed if I went back in the game before looking at the guide. Double kicking myself. Not to pat myself on the back but I do feel like I'm doing pretty good. I guess just knowing I can't easily skip a puzzle is making me pay better attention or focus more or something.

And now I just finished Jewel Match 2 Reloaded. It was a peaceful, relaxing game but, at least 5 times it wouldn't shut down and I couldn't even close it in task manager, so I had to restart my computer. Not sure what Match 3 will be next. Part of me wants to replay that Pirate game (I can't think of the name now) and/or The Spell but I don't know.

Congrats on finishing Jewel Match 2 Reloaded despite the problems with shutting it down. Having to restart the computer is a bit much. I could only put it with that for so long. I have had such issues with the occasional game but I don't think I ever had to restart the computer to get out of it.

I will continue to play Hidden Portals today.

I am not liking Episode 9 so much. There are some arcade mini games, one of which I did already - walking a tightrope with a balancing pole, and one I am stuck in right now, in a screen as making a dog jump over obstacles. I know I also have to shoot down some balloon with a cannon but I guess I first need something to light the wick with. I do not like arcade type mini games!

Edit: Ooh. I just thought of something. I believe this dog jumping game is in the "secret room" which means I only have to solve it if I want the star. I'll try it one more time when I have rested but otherwise will leave it.

2nd Edit: I guess I can maybe see why somebody mentioned this game was like a Nancy Drew game with the finding items and doing chores, and do this for me and I'll do that for you stuff.

3rd Edit: Well, there are actually 3 arcade mini games that need to be played. I managed one of them shooting at something in the sky. I almost got to the end of the dog jumping one - had about 2 seconds more to get through but lost it. The other is one of those driving around obstacles. I guess I'll try those 2 again tomorrow but I seem to be stuck in the main part at the moment, not sure what to do, not finding anything new.

Playing a recent "old" game download, Dead Reckoning - Silvermoon Isle. There is something familiar about it. I know I've played it before ... because its in my library. It's a game by Eipix, and there are a lot of quality games I've played by them, but this game is unlikeable right from the start. The graphics are not good. Or at least I don't like their style. I wonder if that's why I don't remember much about the game. I.e. I didn't like the graphic style of the game so I quit playing shortly after I started. If somebody can tell me the graphics improve, I'll give it a try.

I have no idea if the graphics improve but then I never thought they were bad to begin with. All I remember now is having played the game and enjoyed it. I liked all the Dead Reckoning games.

Thank Heaven I made it through Episode 9 of Artifact Seekers. I did not like this episode as I already stated. Too many arcade type mini games to deal with. I did not get the star in the secret room due to a car driving/obstacle game. One item I couldn't find prevented me from getting another star. I did manage to get 7 stars though, however, one of them I got because I found the solution in the guide. The guide doesn't actually have all of the solutions, just says what happens after you solve the puzzle. This particular puzzle showed a solution and I used it which helped me get the star because that one was based on how many moves it took to solve. I think the guide does tell you where to find some of the items but I don't use it for that. If I don't get the star, then I don't (as a rule anyway). I hope the next episode goes back to being more fun!

rtrooney, I haven't yet played any of the Dead Reckoning games but the screenshots of Silvermoon Isle on Steam look good to me!

I would have trouble with all those arcade games too and would be enlisting the help of my son. I hope the next episode has fewer of them.

And when I read some of the reviews of Silvermoon Isle on Big Fish, I saw people talking about the great visuals. Perhaps it depends on the size of the player's monitor and screen resolution? It is an older game but it still looks good on my monitor (which is also pretty old).

I finished Hidden Portals and am now playing Legendary Tales: Stolen Life CE.

I like the Legendary Tales series!

Me too. I don't know if I will play them all consecutively, but this first one I am really enjoying.

Never played any other Dead Reckoning games. There are two graphic styles used. One is very hard-edged, high-contrast that is used when introducing a new location. That's the style that's used in most of the prologue and the style I do not like. The other style is a bit more muted and is used when actually inter-acting in a new location. I don't think the contrasting styles work well together, but I was able to grit my teeth and finished the game.

Well, it's good you made it through the game anyway, rtrooney!

Came within a smidgen of using my last free "skip" on a puzzle in Episode 10. I watched a video of the puzzle and was trying to write down all the steps but just couldn't get them. Then I looked at it on my Tablet and was trying to keep up by seeing the position of the puzzle but that didn't really work well either - too hard to back it up and keep track of moves. Eventually though I did manage to solve the puzzle. The walkthrough did help even though I couldn't actually follow it. Whew! Probably would have been worth using the "skip" but I guess I'm glad I didn't have to.

Good deal, ob!

rtrooney, I hope you managed to get some enjoyment out of the game anyway. I couldn't tell you what all the other Dead Reckoning games are like in terms of graphical styles - some I have played and some are still pending - and it has been quite a while since I have played one.

I finished Legendary Tales: Stolen Life and have moved on to Legendary Tales: Cataclysm. I thought the way they integrated the bonus game with the main game in Stolen Life was quite clever. Real life has been interfering with my gaming this past week but it looks like this coming week will be better, I hope.

Ob, last Saturday I got a jury duty summons. But since the last summons two years ago when I was 69 years of age, I have aged two years and I was able to excuse myself from it for medical reasons without needing a note from a doctor being as I was 70 years or older. Hooray! It seemed almost too good to be true, but I have already received acknowledgment in the mail that I have been excused (I did the summons request/excuse online). This has been the only good thing so far about turning 70, but it's a big one. The courthouse is a 90-mile round trip drive and I have no car. So happy I don't have to deal with this anymore. Something that has been an ongoing problem for at least 25 years has finally been eliminated.

Anyway, back to gaming discussions.

Oh, Marian! Still something I actually dread seeing every day when I look in my mail box! Yesterday though, I received a check from the county assessor's office - for 3 cents

Sounds like you enjoyed the first Legendary Tales game since you are moving on to the second one. I can't actually remember the games (except the fourth one which I played recently enough), just that I did really like them. I haven't played the 5th game in the series yet but look forward to it.