:P

Anyone finish it yet? That last level is a killer!

Very enjoyable so far. I am at the very last level in story mode. Those who call it too simplistic must not have gotten to the upper levels. It gets dang hard...

Thank you and a big thumbs up for the game!

was looking forward to playing this game but cant get past the openning credit what a waste of downloads un-installing this one wasted too much time waiting for it to start up forget it

Love the game! It loaded up beautifully and plays well on my XP SP3 which is installed on an old IBM which originally came with Windows ME. My many thanks to the folks who setup and run this site!

Reiterating what other people have said whose games get stuck at the opening screen... I just deleted the start.avi from the game directory as suggested, and tried to start the game. It worked. So anyone who still can't start the game in XP, give that a go, it'll probably fix the problem. :)

GS-Webdesign, same problem on XP SP2 :(

thanks # 81 Tricia


I deleted the Sound\start.avi file (which is the bug scene, and now it works on Windows XP SP3.
Comment by Tricia — January 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

on my 7th try in vista
it worked

I have downloaded and deleted the game folder over and over. It just will not work. It will not go passed the fist page and goes white. Also when I click on the icon to start the game the poperties says it is only 3 Mg not the larger size of 15.5M... What know. I have never had this problem downloading before. AND yes I have the .NET framework.
Thanks anyway. Perhaps GOTD can and this game in again for those many of us who can't get it to work. Thanks

Still no resolution to the "key cannot be decrypted" error. I guess it was not meant to be for some of us to play. Too bad as I enjoy the match 3 games.

Thanks 81, I downloaded several times and could never make it through the first screen until I followed the tip from #81 and deleted the Sound/start avi file. Now it fires right up and works like a charm.
XP SP2.

Great Game!

I hope they fix the problem, and re-give this game away again.
My wife and I love 3 match games. I have downloaded 6 times,
3 each way. No luck. Gave up.

I have tried to download several times but when I get to the title and I keep receiving and error message. It say Arabica has encountered an error. I love games like this and I was really hoping that I would be able to play this. If there is anything that could correct the error I would love it. I love a lot of the games and this is just up my alley. Thanks

Приятное оформление, успокаивающая музыка, удобное управление - игра для небольшого отдыха. Немного однообразно, но от игр такого типа много и не ждёшь. Спасибо! ;)

translated by moderator (using Google translator):

Pleasant design, soothing music, the place - a game for some rest. A bit of the same key, but this type of game a lot and not waiting. Thank you!

Installed in Vista Home Premium quickly and easily.

I really like Arabica. Have been playing it for hours today. Very different type of match 3 game. It certainly helps to give your brain a workout!!

Thanks to GGOTD and Merscom for this fabulous giveaway today.

Mem :)

game won't open on vista home premium laptop, not even when I set it to run in compatibility mode for windows xp. It opens up a runtime error window with msg to contact the program support ppl for information

This game is quite a challenge, even for a match-three junkie like myself. Do give this one a shot. It will stretch your brain's match 3 thinking.

Like many others who have posted, I am glad and thankful that GGOTD offered this again [since the computer I had it on "died" and I had to send it in for (known) motherboard mfg problem. Lost it on that computer, and wanted it for newer Vista laptop.]

As always, I cannot close without thanking WhiteRabbit aka Stephen for his reviews and his alternate free game posts on the forums.

You're my hero and an inspiration, Stephen!

#Tricia

You were right.:)
The start.avi file was to blame.You can either delete this file in the Arabica/Sound folder, as you did, or....try to re-associate avi files with windows media player.
In both ways the game will launch properly.

ARABICA DONT WORK ON VISTA ULTIMATE

LonniH, you say your computer died. Do you mean the hard drive or another component? If the hard drive is still serviceable you may be able to save some of the games that you've got because quite a few are free standing; which means they don't need entries in the registry. So if you connect your hard drive to your new computer you can see which ones you can salvage. If you’re not sure how to do this check out the following tutorials, or PM me in the forums as I can give you some simple instructions on how to do it.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=installing+a+hard+drive&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

There’s two types of connectors. If your hard drive has a large looking socket with 40 pins you want the tutorials for IDE drives, if there’s just a small socket the hard drive is a ATA or SATA drive. There are some differences so you’ll need to get the right tutorial. IDE drives are a little more complex to install because you need to set them up as the primary or secondary which entails moving a little jumper at the back of the hard drive. I wont go into details though as all of this may just be academic.

Just click on the executables and see if the game is now a demo or not. I hope this helps. Of course, if the hard drive was the hardware that went kaput, you've no chance. :idea: However it may still be worth getting the contents recovered by a specialist :idea: ; especially if you happened to have a lot of games from the project. There's been quite a few thousand dollars worth of games given away since it started (in the first year over $5000 was given away). I reckon at least 30 or 40% are standalone games, which still amounts to a lot of money. :lol:

===================================================================

To Julie,

If you want to uninstall it you have to go to where it was installed and delete it manually.

C:\Games\arabica

I tried downloading from the original and the mirror site. Got the "Key cannot be decrypted" message upon activation, both times. It is now 3:19pm EST.

I installed this game, and when I try to open it, a box pops up with a red X in it and another box pops up and says that it is telling runtime to shut it down. And now I can't uninstall it. Help

Old computer died and all my games with it :( Downloaded this from the mirror site and installed fine on XP SP2. Tried both modes and everything worked fine but I haven't had enough coffee to think and play properly so I will try again later when I am fully awake.

Nice graphics, my only very minor complaints (aside from the lack of setting a shortcut during installation) is the lack of an uninstall file. Still not enough to give this a downcheck.

To 76 - my mouse didn't disappear and I agree I prefer the mouse to keyboard commands as well. Are you using a custom mouse pointer or just the default one? I am using default and it worked fine. You might want to check you mouse options in your control panel. Just a thought.

Same as #22, just get stuck on opening screen, had to reboot, only im on SP3....

Darn thing keeps saying that the key can't be decrypted. It is now January 17, 2009, at 1:48 CST.

To Mary Ann, Have you tried clicking on the set up file????

From the way you've written your comment it appears that you haven't. In which case you'll be happy to know that clicking on the set up file will start the installation process for this game. You need to make a note of where the files are being installed. I've mentioned it in my first post, but just for compleeness sake here it is againn:

C:\Games\Arabica

Go to that folder and open it up; right click on the executable and select send to then select desktop (shortcut). That'll put a desktop shortcut on your desktop. If you want a start menu shortcut I've posted a tutorial in the games discussion forums:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2594

==================================================================

To Skymama,

I was dubious about installing SP3 at first, but then all it contains is all the updates that you've probably allowed previously, (assuning you have your computer set yo pick up updates), plus a few extra bug fixes. I've had it installed for ages and never had any problems with it. Though it's ultimately up to you whether you install it. I suggest you create a restore point and then install it. If you find there are problems you can then easily revert back to your SP2 installation. If you downloaded Eaz-Fix that was given away early last year I suggest you use that as it's much better than windows restore. (It's saved me from having to mess with my windos installation several times already - despite it getting a bad press in the comments section {probably because it does edit your mbr, which some think is a big no no.}

The mirror is just a shorthand way of saying extra donload site. I didn't know what it meant the first time I came across it. For more information just Google what is a mirror site.

===================================================================


Nice one Tricia, hopefully that will make lots of community members happy. :)


===================================================================

To those with the decryption problem, have you tried using the mirror download?

I have two questions and hope it's alright to ask on this site.

1. You made reference to "downloading to a mirror site". Could you explain what that is?

2. I noticed several people said it downloaded great to computers with xp sp3. I have stayed away from allowing sp3 to download because I read so many people were having trouble with it, especially on their laptops, but that was awhile ago. Is it alright to install it now?

I appreciate any advice you can offer, I have no one else to ask. Thank you

I deleted the Sound\start.avi file (which is the bug scene, and now it works on Windows XP SP3.

I love match 3 games and downloaded this one but it would not work. There was no .exe file included. It opened to only the set up file and the read me .txt file. I really wish I could have gotten it to work.
Mary Ann

yeah it will run on windoze 7 beta 64 bit but not on vista home premium 64 bit (ironic eh win 7 has the beta tag and vista does not and yet more things run better in win 7 then vista lol lol lol )
thanks
gl and tc e1

Commenter number 62 here again! :)

Just got finished installing this on the Windows 7 beta, which I just set up to dual boot with the XPSP3 system that wouldn't run this earlier, and it seems to start just fine on Windows 7. Same hardware as the XP machine, just a different set of drivers I guess. Go figure. Anyway, looks like I'll be able to play this now, at least until August 1, when Win7's beta stops working. :)

Running Vista Home Premium~Installed & activated fine but can't try the game because it is stuck on the opening splash page. I tried both the regular download page and the mirror site~same problem for both.

Does anyone know how to stop the mouse cursor from disappearing in the game? I had this problem in Around the World in 80 Days and it was just a matter of going to options and changing the cursor setting but there's no option to change it in this game.

Other than that it's a great game, I just prefer using the mouse. Thanks GGOTD.

Downloaded smoothly on xp pro sp2.

Just played it. It's a lot of fun. I would recommend it.

Thanks GOTD.

Installed the game from the main download, ran it and it had a memory error after the opening screen (bug running 'n getting blown away); unlike some others commenting above, at least I had a "Debug or Close" menu option. Deleted the download and game folders, re-downloaded from the mirror site and same error. From now on, when so many others are having problems installing/running, I'm not going to waste my time.

John

Easy install on XP SP3. Good game. It's a keeper for me. Thanks!

Downloaded and installed last time they gave this away, it is as stephen says a refreshing change from the usual match 3 type games (which I do like.. good time killers) and a pleasant revisiting of the 'moondrop' type games.

tried twice last night and once today using whiterabbits mirror link advice but still would not work
i will try in windoze 7 and see if it works their
thanks anyways

I don't normally comment on the games, just read what others have to say. But, had to make an exception today. This is a truly awesome game! It is so different from normal match 3 games. You just have to try it even if you don't normally like match 3 games. There use to be a game similar to this and I really liked it but can't remember the name of it now.
I run Windows XP and had no problems downloading or installing this game and I am thru at least 5 bubbles and havent had any problems. GREAT GAME! Thanks guys!

Douwloaded the game then tills me on a popup that "no 3D Device Switching to software Rasterizer" game load ok but flikers thru out the game play.

I also downloaded this game...(with dial-up) it took a very long time). I tried to open it and I also got the message.."The key cannot be decrypted"...I really want this game...can you send a new one today before the time is up??? thanks

Wow great, I love this type of game and this one I have never played before, Ive found you have to be quick LOL. It downloaded and worked fine for me on XP Sp 3. Many thanks game giveaway.

Games doesn't start.

"Key cannot be decrypted" is the error message I get. Never had a problem with any of the games offered here, so this is a first. I deleted everything and tried again.... it's broke... so since I cannot play it I won't rate it. Thanks anyway, see you tomorrow hopefully

Downloaded via mirror link and it installed perfectly on my laptop running Windows Vista. Game activated right away, though I did get an error from Vista saying the game may not have installed properly, but it did. Nice graphics - it'll be a fun one to play.

Thanks for all ya do!

Lisa

This is a nice match 3 game. A little different than more, yet easy and fun.

Got the same problem as several other people. Trying to run it on XP SP3, it downloads fine, it appears to install fine, but when I run it, the two splash screens come up and then it shuts down again. I remember this happened to me the LAST time they gave this game away (and at that point I was running XP SP1, with an entirely different graphics card). Just installed a new card last month, and verified that they've not updated their drivers since then, and everything is up to date.

So once again, even running up to date drivers, with a different graphics card, and having changed from SP1 to SP3, this game just doesn't seem to want to run for me. :( What a shame, it looks good.

non funziona
does'nt run

THUMBS UP!!

#37 When I was installing it on Vista HP it tried to put it in Program Files\Games\Dungeons Monsters so I created a folder called Arabica in Program Files\Games and then installed into this. Installed and activated no prob so created a desktop shortcut and tried to run the game. It opened up nicely but when i click on options or one of the other control buttons my laptop freezes and the only way out is to ctrl,alt & delete to get the task manager to end the process. Any1 know what is wrong. I also always use the mirror link. Should i try to redownload it or just forget about this one?