I installed this on two computers...an XP and a Windows 8.1.... when I entered my name, it only took the first letter.It did not save my settings, although I played all through something like 11 levels and hours of play.

I like the game but am disappointed that it did not/will not save. I just cannot go through the whole starting part again. I noticed that someone else had problems with the save and you commented on levels saved. It seems reasonable for the many, many levels I completed that the game should have been saved. Thanks

Hello! I just would like to give you a huge thumbs up for your excellent info you've got here on this post.

I am returning to your blog for more soon.

Happy Birthday, hope Im not too late.

Hi. Like bolarios I downloaded several times and changed archiver but a message saying "failed to launch" appears. So sad... :(

Installed and runs fine in Vista 32, no problems with settings being saved. As for the fairy, near the start she "asks" if you wish to continue receiving hints; there is an option to show hints, maybe that turns her off (once past the first few levels she doesn't appear often, unless you think too long).

..........................Moderator Comment.............................

Thank you for your feedback jgf :)

Hi!

It downloaded and runs great! The graphics are very good!
I have been playing games more while laid up a couple of weeks
and enjoyed couple had playing them through. This
looks like it plays through too easy with the fairy guidance, but
I am only in early level.
Thanks for another good game!

Happy Birthday Steven!!

Sure do miss it when you aren't here and hope your health is a bit better for the non.

Hugs :D

Love this game! I figured I'd better play the one I got last time to make sure it still worked. It did, so no need to download it again.

But I forgot how annoying that fairy was! Sheesh! She even asked me once if she should keep telling me stuff and I said no but she ignored me! How rude!

I especially don't like reminders that say it looks like I'm in a tough spot so I should use the bomb or whatever. Sometimes I like trying to get out of that tough spot without any help.

I dislike the whole idea of a story in any game to start with. So all the messages and animations between games and levels are just as annoying. I just want to scream leave me alone and let me play.

It wouldn't be so bad if the messages just displayed for a few seconds, or if they allowed you to click anywhere to skip past them, but they insist you respond by clicking a little button before you can continue.

To me, the ideal game would have a row of little toggle buttons and volume sliders on the edge of the screen somewhere that were always visible and accessible. They'd let me turn on/off music, sounds, story, and helpful hints, and change music/sound volumes separately, without going back to an options screen. That way if I hadn't played the game in a while and wanted prompts, I could just toggle it on for a few levels. If something came on TV I wanted to hear, I could click off the sounds quickly. Or I could turn everything off for an annoyance-free game. I hope someone will do something like that in my lifetime. Maybe it might even be someone like Playrix, because they produce games that are good enough to stand by themselves as just games, without all the annoyances.

As always, thanks much Playrix and GGOTD!

And Stephen, hope you had a great birthday!

..........................Moderator Comment.............................

Thank you for your feedback Dani, as for my birthday, it was a pleasant day Thanks:)

Hello Stephen, and a slightly late Happy Birthday to you!

So nice of you and GGOTD to take the time to do this for us. This looks like a game I'll really enjoy. It has everything I like - pretty graphics, match-3 (or more,) fairies, and bombs! I'm sure I'll like the music too, but sometimes it overpowers my thinking, and I just turn the game volume down and play my own files. Just need to find my Earth, Wind & Fire mp3 folder.

..........................Moderator Comment.............................

Thank you Mary Lee

Happy Birthday,Whiterabbit!Wish you all the best in your life!

..........................Moderator Comment.............................

Thank you

My apologies, I meant to say "ricethief" but said GMMan by accident... Apologies to ricethief.

@Whiterabbit-uk,
True, it has been a long time but you'd think if our feedback helped, they'd have fixed the problem after the *first* time it was released to us, then given us a fixed version next time?

I apologize for my tone but it just seems like a waste of time to me to post feedback when the developers *NEVER* (please, name one time) update the game and give us an updated bug-free version the next time... But that's just me ranting during a bad (and rainy) day. LOL
For those who have the problem creating a profile with a "d" or "e" in your profile name, here is the posted fix by GMMan:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/10376

I could probably create a self-extracting patch using WinRAR to fix it automatically but not sure of the rules here on that...

..........................Moderator Comment.............................

I agree with you, though I always hope that the feedback is still used for games they have planned. I also think that if no one commented, developers would just give up on the project. Thankfully Alawar and Playrix have been extremely generous over the years this project has run

Yes, that did the trick, thank you so much! I just changed the name on my original game without an E and it works well. I do love this game but could never get to the end, lol. Thanks again!

..........................Moderator Comment.............................

Thank you for your feedback; hopefully others who have the same problem will read your post. :)

ESET Security won't let me install this game, it triggers it as a threat.....

......................Moderator comment.....................

Hi JLPicard, it's probably due to the setup.gcd file which has it's own security included. This set off a lot of community members AV software when it was first introduced.





Either make an exception or turn the security off temporarily. No one else has had this problem out of thousands of downloads. The giveaway team thoroughly check all games given away before they are allowed to be downloaded, using several different malware suites.

I have this game on 2 different laptops, downloaded at different times from this site. I love it, but whenever I close the game, it goes right back to the beginning and I have to start all over again. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Thank you for any advice you may have for me.

.........................Moderator comment....................

Laurie, did you use your full name to create a profile? If you did, it's because of using the letter 'E' which wont register with this game (an inherent fault). Create a profile without an E and the save problem should be sorted. Let me know if it works.

Have this game from a previous giveaway and like most Playrix games it's colorful, busy, fun and IMO has replay value if you're into the M3/HOG genre; this one has a fun storyline that moves the game along and kept me "involved" well enough, I've played through several times. Also enjoyed most of the scene animations (except for the fairy) - at least the first time through, and that's my only suggestion - it would be nice if there was an option to tone down the animations, they can get repetitious or distracting. Plays well on my laptop, too - doesn't require a lot of graphics horsepower. IMHO it's a keeper and rates a solid 8.5 of 10.

Happy Belated Birthday Stephen! (I'll be a year older myself later this week.) Hope you and the family are all well settled in and healthy, and continue that way. Good wishes from across the pond...
John

.........................Moderator comment....................

Hi John, thanks for the feedback. hope your birthday is a happy one. :)

I am using a Dell I7 CPU (8 processors) 8 GB RAM 2 TB Drive Space - 1.7 Gb Intel HD vid & 2GB Nvidia installed vid card (if the Intel can't handle) Using Win 8.1 & ALL drivers updated daily, last I used 2 monitors - the 17" that is connected to the notebook & a 23" Dell touch-screen monitor (trying to understand the need for a pad - working on it) - and everytime I click on the .exe (or shortcut) the games "box" shows up & then it dies - comes up with a dialogue saying "Windows is trying to find a solution for the problem & they would notify when done) - Is this normal? Can the program NOT identify the "main" screen - as all the other games do? Email is attached to this comment - please help, would like to try this game.

.........................Moderator comment....................

Hi Thomas, try disabling one of the monitors temporarily. At least until the game has been installed. Hopefully that will fix the problem

The game installed and plays well on my Win 7/64. Love Playrix games and this one is no exception with very nice graphics and music. If I could change anything it would be what some of the other reviewers said, the fairy gives repetitive advice and there should be a way to turn it off when you don't need it anymore. I could also do without the matching pictures, but I don't ever like them in any game so it could just be me. I'll still keep it though,and will most likely play it through a lot more than once. Thank you Playrix and GGOTD.

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Thank you for your feedback Kathryn

Love this game.
It's one I can frequently play over and enjoy again, but...
Lost it to a Puter crash so the last time it was offered, I downloaded to my XP computer...
But it started playing at 2X to 3X speed.
Thought today's repeat might allow me to solve that problem so I uninstalled the previous version, downloaded the current version, then installed again.
Still have the same problem (and the intro page already knew my name, so I guess the uninstall didn't fully remove the earlier version).
It plays okay on my Win 7 laptop, but I prefer to use my old XP/SP3 desktop for games.
Any suggestions???

.........................Moderator comment....................

Some of my older games do the same thing (eg Cossacks: European War); I'd post this problem over in the forums as well. hopefully someone may be able to help.

I really enjoy playing this game, but the fairy is annoying. The flipping cards and unscrambling pages just slow down game play and are aggravating to me. I like the HOG, makes a nice change of pace.

FYI, the link to the Didimatic site is claiming that the domain name is expired.

.........................Moderator Comment..............................

Thanks, haven't re checked the links. will fix it. :)

Happy belated birthday - wishing you all the best Gemini!

I downloaded the game last time and can recommend it!

.........................Moderator Comment..............................

Thanks :)

Got error message:
"The setup files are corrupted. Please obtain a new copy of the program."

I've downloaded the zip file several times and extracted it - the error message was shown at each time I tried to install the game.
What a pity.. :(

Luckily I have a former version I can play ;)

.........................Moderator Comment..............................

Hi bolerios, have you checked the FAQ's section I link to in my review Trying a different file archiver may solve the problem.

Thanks for the rerun of this excellent game. On an Ipad it is even more fun to play this game. Two remarks for the developer: those spot the differences games between the levels are a bit dull. And please..let me get rid of that fairy with her repetitive advice if I want to.

I installed the game in windows 8.1 using the default settings but although the game does play when you exit the settings are not saved.
Noticing that the shortcut sets it to start in programme files folder I gave it administrator permissions but still it did not save. So I opened the properties of the shortcut and set the game to start in a new folder I created C:\users\myname\appdata\local\4elements - however with this setting the game simply doesnt load at all. I am going to try installing it in a folder which is not admin protected BUT I should not have to do this if the defaults were ok in the first place! I have downloaded other games like this without any problems

.........................Moderator Comment..............................

Hi Clive, been awhile since i played the game, so can't remember the save system. Some games you have to play a certain number of levels before it saves, though I don't remember this one having that problem. will have to play several levels later to check. A little busy at the moment.

edit:

just been reminded by Avid Gamer that there was a problem with creating accounts. If you try to put an 'E' in your profile it doesn't save your profile. this could explain why the game isn't saving. try using a nickname without using the letter 'E' and see if the problem is fixed.

@Whiterabbit-uk:
You replied to #3 stating you didn't think this was a different version than before? So as usual they didn't fix the Create Profile name bug that has been mentioned all 3 times it's been released here?

.........................Moderator Comment..............................

Hi Avid Gamer. Wasn't it an 'E' that was the problem? Can't remember. I've not had the time to check out whether there's a difference. It would mean putting aside at least two or three hours of game play time I don't have at the moment. It's rare that a developer will update a game four or five years old.

edit; Yes it was an E and it's still a problem

Happy Birthday !!!

Given away previously:
9/11/2011
5/20/2012
4/20/2013
(and now on) 6/8/2014

Check reviews from past give aways!

Thanks for the game.... unfortunately I've downloaded this game the last time and it is the same game. I've thought since they called it Premium this time, that it would be different...but alas, it is the exact game...lol now I gots two copies :D Well in case one doesn't work, I gots another one.. :D
Thank you... still a fan of this site :)

same as on April 20th, 2013

Just tested on Win8.1 -- works fine.

Note that the developer's own page doesn't say it works on anything later than Vista, but I have it running in Win7 too, so they're being pessimistic.

The only irritant about this (otherwise entertaining "match 3 style chain-making") game is that, fun though it is, particularly in later levels, you can't bypass the -- eventually frankly hugely irritating -- tutorial mode, no matter how many times you play it through from start to finish. (But despite the slight childishness of the plot, the gameplay is unusually addictive -- the "just one more level" thing is very marked.

The hidden object and spot the difference bits make for small breaks in what might otherwise be quite repetitive -- albeit increasingly difficult -- gameplay, and the implementation is generally pretty good.

Family friendly.

This is a really good game, nice graphics, appropriate music and relatively unique with nice variety. BZ!

This is a wonderful game.
Installed fine on windows 7 home premium sp1.

I am very happy with the possibility to play in windowed mode, and the graphics of this game are gorgeous.

The very first hidden object scene I found rather difficult, but hints are available and they recharge pretty quickly. I like it when it's not so easy.

The match 3 part is also gorgeous, very fluid... very alive.

Nice adventure/match3/hog/story game. I've played it before, but it's very replayable, as for instance the garbled texts in the books is not something you remember exactly from last time, which makes it fun to unlock them again.

Thank you, great game!

Good game

Is there any difference to the version from May 2012? I loved that game but don't need to download it twice.. ;)

........................Moderator Comment........................

I don't think so.

Usually I don't enjoy these types of games but I downloaded from a previous giveaway on my old PC and loved it. Played it through to the end and will be downloading again.

Thanks to GoTD and Playrix :)

It was my birthday yesterday so didn't bother to work on editing my previous review of this game until late this morning (slept in). All I've done is edit the games, games games section to include the latest deals. The actual review remains the same as my previous post. If there's any typos or mistakes please do let me know. :)

4 Elements Premium:

Installation:

4 Elements Premium downloads to a 69.0 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup file (the orange colored file with the key symbol), plus there's a setup file with security (setup.gcd) that's protected from being hacked (because the previous giveaway system was easily cracked). This file may case some security software to alert the user to a possible malware attack, but it will be a false positive.

The game giveaway team check all game giveaways for malware using several well known anti -malware suites. There has never been a game giveaway infected with malware since the project started back in Dec 2006. (The owners know that allowing such things would compromise their business, so they make sure all software given away via the giveaway and gamegiveaway sites are thoroughly checked for all types of malware before allowing community members to download any files.

Some community members have been having problems installing games since the security software was added. It's been found that turning off your security temporarily or configuring it to accept the setup.cgd file usually sorts the problem out.

To register and install the game click on the orange colored icon. The installed game is 21.3MB in size. and installs to the following path by default:


C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\4 Elements\4 Elements.exe- (minus the x86 on 32 bit computers)

The path can be changed to suit whatever your wishes are. Once the game is installed you can delete the giveaway setup files. There is a shortcut installed to the desktop and one to the start menu plus you'll find an uninstaller. There's also a link to Playrix's site installed to the desktop. This can safely be deleted without compromising the game. :)

I've tested the game on a Win 7 and Win 8 systems and it works on both. Not sure whether this is the Premium edition. We are supposed to have got the Premium edition for the past three times this has been given away, but I've not seen any difference between today's version and the copy I purchased from Big Fish some years ago.








Introduction:

The ancient kingdom is in trouble! The magic of the four elements that kept it running for centuries has been corrupted by evil powers and the altars no longer yield the energy of life. It is up to you to unlock the 4 ancient books of magic and collect 16 mysterious cards that will help you restore the kingdom to life. An adorable little fairy will be your aide in this perilous journey as you encounter elementals, dragons, knights, and various magic creatures. Using a mix of classic addictive game play ideas but taking them to a new level with innovative twists, explosive bonuses, spectacular visual effects, and fascinating storyline in amazing animation, this game by Playrix is a load of fun.

Reference accessed HERE 5th Jan 2010

The Game:

The game has an excellent tutorial that will walk you through all aspects of the game. There are also an abundance of tips that can be turned of via the options menu if you prefer to discover for yourself, or increase the difficulty (There's no actual difficulty settings though).

The aim of the game is to restore the power of the 4 Elements which were lost when a calamity befell the magical world. To restore the 4 Elements you will need to restore the four ancient books of elemental magic, (earth, air, fire and water), Each book is divided into four cards and to recover each card you have to play through four levels making a total of 64 levels. Before you can restore each book you have to unlock it by playing a short hidden object game where you have to find parts of objects, which in turn enable you to find other objects, which then lead to the keys that unlock the magical books. At the end of each four levels you also have to play a simple spot the difference game to restore the magical cards. Once accomplished the next card becomes available.

When you start the game for the first time you are asked to create a profile. Once this is done you are presented with the games main menu which enables you to access the options, help, scores and a view intro button (all buttons are blue), with a large green Start button and a red Exit button.

The options menu is your usual arcade game type options with sliders to turn down the music and sound effects plus three toggles to move between full screen and windowed, (the game starts in full screen), a show hints mode and a custom cursor, plus an okay button that accepts any changes and a cancel button that reverts the settings back to default.

The help section walks you through all aspects of the game via four pages, a score button lists the top ten players and a view intro button that gives you the background story. When you start the game for the first time this intro will start but it can be skipped at any time by clicking on the skip button.


You'll find four rechargeable power-ups (that are introduced as you progress through the game. The reshuffle power-up is the last to be unlocked); each power-up is re-charged by a specific set of tiles for example the spade power-up is recharged by creating several matches of green tiles:

1) ... The spade power up which can be used to clear any single tile (except for frozen tiles)

2) ... The swap power-up that enables you to swap any two tiles on the game board

3) ... The bomb power-up that clears several tiles from around the selected tile

4) ... The re-shuffle power-up that will totally reshuffle the complete level.

The game field also contains extra components, some of which hinder you like the boulders, ice and stone slabs. All of these obstacles can be removed via various means such as creating an explosion by selecting a long chain of tiles, the longer the chain the larger the explosion, or by another component called a flaming arrow which are activated by exposing them to the energy flow that is released when you clear a path to the altar. When the green energy touches a flaming arrow, all tiles that are in the direction the arrow is facing will be destroyed. There are three different arrow types a 2-way, a 4-way and an 8-way arrow.



Features:

* 4 books of magic to unlock and study

* 16 mysterious cards to collect

* Gripping storyline presented in beautiful animation

* 64 captivating levels with 20 challenging bonus tasks

* Stunning visual effects and fantastic bonuses

Music:


You can change the music if you find 4 Elements in game music annoying. Just follow the path below and replace the files you want to change with your own favorite music. You will need to convert each file to the .ogg format and rename to replace one of the music files you want to replace. I strongly recommend keeping the originals in a backup folder within the games main folder just in case something goes wrong with your editing. :)


C:/Program Files (x86)/Playrix entertainment/4 Elements/Base/Music/x.ogg




Video & Images:


You can see a slideshow of nearly 150 images from the game HERE. There will be some spoilers so if you don't wish to see them just increase the rate at which the images change via the slider that's provided, that way you won't have time to take things in too much (unless you are a speed reader) ;)



You can see several video's of 4 Elements HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE




System Requirements:


O.S: Windows 98/98SE/2000/Me/XP/Vista (also works on Win 7 & Win 8)
CPU: 1.0Gh
System RAM: 256Mb
Video RAM: 64MB
Direct X 8 or higher





Conclusion:

In my opinion this is an excellent match three game, with a different approach to your usual Match 3 such as Jewel Quests and Treasures of Montezuma games. It's well worth a good 8 out of 10 IMO 'and possibly more'.




Problems:

If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums, in the game discussion section because I cannot moderate 24hrs a day over the weekend. If you've installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn't guaranteed). Sometimes you can still register the game after the giveaway has ended so long as you managed to start the download before the giveaway ends. I've tested this and sometimes the grace period lasts for up to 2 hours, but more often than not 1 hour is the norm.



It’s always worth checking out the free games sites as sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them. MyPlayCity has the most with over 600 games to choose from. You WILL find 4 Elements over at MyPlayCity (but not the Premium version).

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Games, Games, and yet more Games plus Download, Installation & Game play Problems:






If you have any problems installing or getting to work today's game please go HERE for help. I've posted all of the common problems and solutions in a FAQ thread, which you can find in the sticky section of the forums by following the above link.





There's over 100 games on sale over on Steam at the moment with discounts from 10% to 93%. You'll find all the deals via the Specials tab on Steams front page HERE. The usual weekend sales include up to 75% off all stardock titles (eg DemiGod, Fallen Enchantress, Galactic Civilizations, sins of a solar Empire and The Political Machine 2012), here's also 75% off all Magic the Gathering 2014 games, dlc etc; you can also play the full game for free until later this afternoon, the latest 48hr deal is AaAAaaAAAaAAAA!!!.... for the Awesome! with 75% off (great falling game). There's also 75% off Football Manager 2014, 93% off Orion: Dino Hoarde, 85% off Hotline Miami, 85% off Stonghold 3 gold, 50% off Freespace 2 (an old classic just released to Steam) , 90% off Sang Froid - Tales of Werewolves (excellent weird tower defense game), 66% off The ship - Complete Pack, 50% off worms Reloaded GOTY Edition, 75% off Jagged Alliance Collectors Bundle, 50% off Ghost control, 66% off The Showdown Effect, 80% off Rochard: Hard Times, 50% off Awesomenauts - Kage Genji, 75% off Dead Man's Draw, 50% off FX Football, 86% off Earth 2150 Trilogy, 80% off X-Blades, 50% off Yet another Zombie Defense, 80% off Earth 2160, 80% off Avernum: Escape from the Pit, 75% off SkyDrift, 80% off Rochard, 70% off Amada 2526 Gold Edition, 50% off cherobyl commando, 50% off Richard & alice, 50% off Contraption Maker, 50% off Scoregasm, 75% off Montqgues mount, and 90% off chains.

This deal is also available over at GreenManGaming, but instead of Dead Island you get Risen (RPG). Also on sale at GMG is 75% off the Grand Theft Auto franchise. you'll find all of the hot deals from GMG THIS




You'll find many more game deals from Gamersgate, Gamestop, Greenman Gaming and GOG; all of which you can find via the Didimatic site, which I've linked to above (apart from Greenman gaming - GMG).


To be honest there are too many game deals around too list them all. Just visit the sites I recommend above and I'm sure you'll find something that suits you for a very decent price.

If that's not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals such as the Indie Game bundles or check out the four day sales at IndieGameStand.

The latest IndieGameStand game is Spark Rising an action conquest game that features sandbox elements and user generated content so you can create your own battle scenarios. It's exclusive to Steam at the moment. This bundle ends around 5am Thursday GMT. The latest Daily indie game is Space splice an hilarious action/platformer/adventure game starring Zyrth, the most unfortunate alien in the galaxy whose only concern is to have his spaceship repaired. To do so, he will have to face the most surrealistic events that may happen in the universe. You'll find that deal HERE. They also have a bundle of severla games that'll cost you less than $1.50 HERE

Most of the bundles retail for around $5 give or take a few dollars, but you can pay as little as a dollar.

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A Request for helpl>:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you've checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

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