Sorry but i found it too repetitive,just making potion after potion.I guess this just isn't for me.I love adventure games!
But thanks anyways ggotd

Great game. Two thumps ups from me.

Installed on a Windows 7 HP Pavilion(2.1 GHz/64 bit/3 Gig ram). It has an AMD processor and a NVIDIA graphics chip.

The game really slows down during the level complete screen (FPS is about 1 screen every 5-7 seconds) I'm guessing this is a memory issue. - It would be nice if the program had a option to shut off the graphics intensive display during level complete.

The game play looks interesting however the FPS issue makes the game unplayable.

GAOTD - Please pass on this message to the developers... This might be a bug tied to the AMD processor....

I played a lot of Time Management game. I would give this a 7 or 8.

Nice graphics but nothing special. It's great that the game speed is fast.

Easy game to play. Would have been nice to have dificulty levels.

The music can make me a bit sleepy. The music almost makes me not want to play the game for long.

The twist in the game is a nice touch. I would prefer that the hints start to appear earlier in the game to catch people's attention earlier in the game.

I like that different characters do interact with the user at the beginning of game rounds.

I love TM games they are my favorite. This one was far to easy and I got it done in a few hours. I liked the game but it needed to have more levels and be tougher.

This download fine on windows 7. The game is quite enjoyable. I like the mix of TM, object finder and jigsaw type. Thanks for putting this up.

I don't usually play time management games as they are not relaxing to me. I love the Playrix games so I downloaded this one and it is quite a pleasant game play. The graphics are great, love the cat! The dialogue is not tedious and long rather I found it engaging and clever. I downloaded the file using Windows 7 without any glitches. Another Playrix game success story!

Nice TM game. Wish it were longer and/or a tad more challenging for the upper levels. Thanks for the game!

I actually played this game a few months back, but I still wanted to take the opportunity to comment on GOTD.

I agree with everything c_w mentions above, particularly about the dialog between the characters. It was too easy to miss something that was said. Also, for many people it's going to be too easy to forget how the characters are interacting in-between dialogs. To me, the story line is the best part about this game that makes it 10 times better than other time management games where your goal is just to keep building the business. It would be nice to have had conversations recorded to a diary for casual perusal in between shifts, or in between game sessions, as I had to split mine up a lot over the course of a week or so.

@ c_w: If I remember correctly, the feather didn't increase cooking speed, but decreased customer anger-level speed, which still would have affected total $ in the end.

I was VERY frustrated at the wares guy. He would never have the same items for sale, the prices were always different, and he didn't seem to show up often enough. Granted, in the real world, that may be how it works, but for a TM game it was one thing that really bothered me. I think TM games should lend themselves to the idea that the player should be able to plan their purchases as well as maximize their game play by being able to purchase everything possibly available.

The interaction with the Cat alone makes this a much more fun time management game, which normally I don't care for. The graphics are cool and original, and having a storyline "adventure" really adds the much needed umpff (for lack of a better term!) that makes this an awesome game. Huge thumbs up!! Thank you!!

Fun little time management game: excellent graphics, easy starting play, good directions and just a little bit of fun. The dialogue of the characters is sometimes a bit B movie but it doesn't at all detract from the game. I've played a few time management games and this is a keeper...8 out of 10 from me. :)

Good game, I enjoy graphics and little puzzles. Doesn´t get boring with time. It is a keeper, like the earlier Playrix games. Thank you!

I installed game on a flash drive as I do with all games, and this one keeps stopping in the middle of a level, so reinstalled on my laptop and it still keeps happening?
but it is a cool time management type of game. I wish you would offer more good games like you used to, I miss you guys every day. What happened?

I usually don't like the time management type games, but I'm loving this one. Think my son will love it too. Thanks for the cool game!

BTW, once you extract the game data, you'll find that the music is tagged. If you like listening to game music on your MP3 player, just convert the files with something like foobar2000, and stick it on to your MP3 player. It's tagged, so the artist, album, and title will show up.

This game's data is packed in a standard PopPak format (used in PopCap games). Unfortunately, neither PopPak packer tools will work on this one, so if you want to get the data out, you'll need QuickBMS. And, unfortunately, the developer's site is down, so you'll have to try to get it later. However, the link is http://aluigi.org/quickbms.htm, and you'll want the 7x7m script. Good luck once the site is up.

Excellent game! Nice music and colorful, climatic graphics. Making potions and finding hidden "ingredients" is just perfect. And that cat in the game is nice :D

@22 The wrapper doesn't use system time to determine offer validity. Instead, it pulls an encryption key off the GOTD's activation service and decrypts using that. If the server responds with an error, the wrapper will display it. If the decryption key is not seven characters long, or if the server responds with anything other than 200 OK (I haven't verified that), you'll get the "invalid key" message. I realized that I get the "invalid key" message instead of the "cannot connect" message because I use Privoxy, which will return an error page in addition to the error code when an error occurs.

Too much detail, maybe? It's all original research.

This game is actually quite nice. It is very colourful, and the audio is great. I only think that maybe the music is a bit loud for the voiceovers, but it's not a big deal.

Thanks for the game :)

YAY!!!! A game that works for me. A pretty good game too. I really enjoyed it. I like how it changes game play from the bar to a hidden object game. Lots of fun.

And because nothing is perfect , in the middle of the game it paused and minimized and my firewall said it was trying to connect to an outside computer. I blocked it. Haven't played it again so don't know if it was a one time deal.

Thank you for the game.

This is a lovely game and I am really enjoying it. I love time management games such as Farm Frenzy, Ranch Rush, King's Smith2. So far this one is not as challenging and less indeed stressful which is totally fine. The music is nice as well, not irritating at all, very pleasant to listen to. I also love it when there are various puzzles in a game, keeps it interesting. I like the storyline, the graphs and colours. I agree that a little more explanation would be helpful.
I am very pleased this game is today's giveaway. Thanks Playrix and thank you Stephen for the review. When I read that you even liked the game, I knew it would be worthwile downloading, knowing that you generally do not like TM games.

Hi Thanks for a great game.
i check here daily and am always pleased with the games available.

Though I have been a GOTD user for some time, this is the first time I downloaded a game. For some reason this one caught my eye, enchanted me maybe. ;) I'm glad to see some positive feedback. Can this be loaded onto a flash drive and played that way?

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

Try it and see. :)

Sorry for the double-post, and serves me right for commenting on wording. In my above message, I meant to say "magic wand".
Thanks again.

Run setup, on activation Advanced System Protector advises "PUP.zugo has been blocked - potentially unwanted application" - can complete activation, but no installation of game.
What is PUP.zugo? On some web forums it's indicated as a virus - false postive? Harmful or not? If not, how do I get round it?

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

Try installing the MyPlayCity version forst. Read Mikes comment above first.

A great quick game that you can finish in a few hours. Very enjoyable, and I'd like to offer a few suggestions for the developer:

1) Allow the user to scroll backwards through dialogues. I occasionally double-advanced or missed conversations when I needed to step away from my computer for a few minutes, then missed out on the story-line.

2) Mention that the auto-mixer flask produces the final drink instantly. This is a huge benefit, but I didn't buy it until late-game because I thought it only auto-added ingredients after each had finished cooking. The description of the phoenix feather (I forget the exact wording) suggested it improved speed, but this did not seem so.

3) Also mention that you can have multiple flask types simultaneously (so you don't worry type 1 will be entirely replaced by type 2) and that you are only replacing a few of your large set of ordinary flasks.

4) Perhaps mention in the instructions that customers will never need more than 3 cooking additives=4 heating stages. I was reluctant to buy advanced ingredients lest customers keep increasing cooking time.

5) In the instructions / hints, please clarify whether new item prices simply increase throughout the whole game (seems so), or whether prices for the same object go up/down randomly. Because I was never certain of this, I was less able to judge if a more expensive ingredient was inherently better for the game.

6) A few confusing moments during the visual searches. The skull and antlers are also types of bones. Not everyone may know that a deathcap is a mushroom. Minor translation issue, but I would have called the magic stick a magic wand. Loved the ironic placement of the cat statue.

7) The game was quite fun, but I was slightly disappointed by the ending, which seemed a little anti-climactic.

Thanks, Playrix and GAOTD!


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

Thank you for your useful feedback. Much appreciated

Sorry for the long delay in moderating, we had our first power cut in over a decade. It's taken several hours to get back online. My providers servers were also down and they had to reboot everything once power was regained. (I was surprised they didn't have back up power).

If you get the invalid key on setup then something is not right in the BIOS clock or Windows desktop clock , try synchronizing your clock through an Internet time server and try the download again.

The game quickly gets boringly repetitive. This game would be more suited to young children learning to discriminate shapes & colors but older kids & adults will likely very quickly become bored by it
Also the artwork quality of some of the hidden objects is so low they barely resemble the object description. For example, one object listed to find was a golden key. Upon using the hint, it turned out the "golden key" was a blob resembling a bunch of gold coins melted together, absolutely unrecognizeable as a key

Very fun game! My wife and i are playing it. :)
The graphics are awesome, the storyline and potion making are fun. :)
Thank you! :D

I LOVE Playrix games. Tried this one on the one hour trial. Really liked it!! So glad you are offering it today!!

I am enjoying the game. It's perfect for my talents (ha). However, there is one way I can think to make this game a bit better. I purchased the bottle that is supposed to help you when you get too busy, when I went to use it, I can't seem to figure out how and really slows me down. I've opted not to use it for now. Some instruction from the cat would be helpful. Music is good. I really like during the hidden object mini game that you don't highlight the item I'm looking for. Sometimes, kids get me or I just have to move around to find it. Not as much fun when you tell me where it is. The door was challenging and I loved it!
This game does exactly what I need it to do. Takes me out of my life for a bit. Love Playrix games I have several. Thank you for bringing it here.
Stephen I just love your reviews. You do a GREAT job!

Tried to download the game several times, from both the original link & the mirror site. Each time my computer tried to open the file, I got a message saying it was invalid. The exact notice is:

Cannot open file: It does not appear to be a valid archive.

If you downloaded this file, try downloading the file again.

This installed but will not run on my Windows 7, dual monitor system.

When I try to run it, it flashes the screens for a couple of seconds, trying to change the resolution from the looks of things. But that fails, and the game is sitting there in the background. When I switch to it again, I get the same screen flashing then it minimizes again. Can't run, can't activate.

Potion Bar installation gave me 2 new folders -- 1 for the game [Playrix Entertainment] with 27 files, 4 folders, ~59 MB -- & one [ShinyTales] under All Users App/Application data (also ProgramData in win7) where config/profile data & .wav files are stored. The registry gets an uninstall key + a Shiny Tales key under HKCU\ Software with values like "ScreenMode" & "AspectNoStretch". It uses D3D but surprisingly worked in win7's XP Mode VM (without D3D support), but didn't in a V/Box win7 32 VM (with experimental D3D support)... I'd take that to mean when it comes to running/playing Potion Bar mileage may vary. The md5 for PotionBar.zip = 8d34bf3932742049e55d80c071e3463e .

The Play City version [http://www.myplaycity.com/potion_bar/ ] is different with respect to the program's files/folders [I don't know about game play], but IMHO you shouldn't install it -- instead use Universal Extractor [http://legroom.net/software/uniextract ] to get the program folder, which will be named "{app}" ... re-name it however you like, delete or move the Internet shortcuts in that folder, & run by double clicking either the Potion Bar.exe or game.exe inside [the Shiny Tales folder will be created on 1st run, for me under User App/Application Data]. You also may want to remove ToolbarSetup.exe. Despite unchecking the toolbar etc., monitored installation added a C:\Firefox folder [133 files, 7 folders, ~475 KB], an Ask.com program folder [20 files, 3 folders, ~2MB], & 1200 new registry entries, most related to the toolbar I opted not to install! If you can create your own desktop &/or Start Menu shortcuts, using Universal Extractor took less time than hunting down & deleting the 2 extra folders, & saves about 1k registry entries [every little bit helps]. Deleting the Internet shortcuts isn't absolutely necessary, but it stops the Playcity version from opening their site in your browser when you close the game. The md5 for potionbar_setup.exe = 326e8e17ace046b5c58996c3761a294e .


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


Thanks for the research Mike

@5 and anyone else having problems activating: try this: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/10289


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

My brains so full of opiate meds I'd totally fogotten about that thread even though it was only posted last week. :)

Very interestingly this caught my eye on MyPlayCity and I downloaded it earlier in the week! :) Pretty Good as TM games go!

I very much enjoyed the potion-making mini-game in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince game! :)

I was really pleased to see this on GAOTD, and even happier to see that the story text has been improved a great deal since I played it on iWin, so congrats for that, guys!

This game is challenging enough to not lose interest, but easier than a lot of TM games - not that I mind that, but sometimes it's nice to take a slightly easier road. Definitely keeping this one.

Thanks guys!

The colors are good, but graphics is too childish. The game idea looks like too limited.

Installed and started playing on Linux with Wine. Installation required the usual "winetricks vcrun6".

The game looks nice, but the problem I run into is that once the people on the bar finish a drink, they don't do anything but just stand there. I have tried clicking everything I can think of, but the people just stay there, not asking for anything more. Then the "open" sign turns into "closed" when the time has run out, but the people still stand there and nothing happens. The only way I can leave the tutorial/first level is by clicking Menu and Quit.

So I guess it doesn't work with Linux/Wine at the moment... or maybe I just can't figure out how to play the game. :P

As always playrix games are fun. Downloaded and installed with no problems on my hp mini. Played a lvl or two, dont have time to play anymore as i got to get to work and help people prepare for hurricane irene. Graphics and gameplay are excellent from my end and its a tm game you dont have to be around 24/7. Thanks again stephen for your reviews and postings, i havent had time to do much of any gameplayen recently or postings for that matter. But rest assured i do chk every sat and sun and dl accordingly from your reviews. enjoy your day stephen and gl with kids gymnastics class.

~wildspirit63~

This game is just brilliant! Playrix have done a brilliant job of making this game, with great graphics, and an intriguing story line. The other good point to mention, is that there are little puzzles (hidden object puzzles, puzzle (the type you put pieces together with)) dotted throughout the game, so the stress is a little less annoying!

An absolute all-round brilliant game.(Even if I am male!) Can't wait to continue playing later! Thank you very much, GGOTD!

This game is very nice. Not only the graphics are splendid, also atmosphere is nice and mysterious.

What I like about this TM game (which by the way are normally not my favourite too) is that there are intermezzo's with hidden object games in it. This breaks the stress a lot, making it very enjoyable.

And unlike many TM games it has a story to tell, a mystery to unraffle. You just want to go on and know where Jack is (teh person that did disappear in the game).

The game did initally start in fullscreen mode, but I was amazed after resizing that it oddly left my desktop fully arranged the way I wanted it to be.

Hallo,
interessant heute, ABER, meine Firewall meint Malware "PUP.zugo"...
Schade!

I get a key is invalid on executing the setup. Whereas the GAOTD of today (the burning software) did install perfectly.

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

You had the same problem with Star Defender 3, whateever advice I gave you to do with that try with todays giveaway, for example try rebooting your modem and/or router, restart your computer or clear out your intenet cache. Please let me know if any of those work. If not hopefully the community will come up with some fixes. I'll check thtough the FAQ's doc I've been working on to see if I've included any other fixes, but will have to get back later as I need to help with the kids. they are off to Gymnastics soon and need sorting.

The Hint button in the potion creation screen doesn't seem to do anything. Am I missing something?

Yes! I love Playrix games, and this is one I've tried on the 1-hour trial. IMHO it's a good time management game, easy at the beginning and getting quite complex further on. There are also object-finder and jigsaw-type games, the object finder to make new potions, and the jigsaw to correctly decorate the door to the next level.

This is a keeper. Thanks for the giveaway!

Hey, this game is in OnLive's PlayPack. I have tried it. It's fun. You gotta be quick or they won't pay you money.

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 why your reasons for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with a 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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Potion Barl>

Installation:

The game downloads to a 51.3Mb zip file that unpacks to a read me and dual activation and setup file. The game installs to the following path by default, but you can change the path during the installation wizard:


C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Potion Bar (64 bit)

Or

C:\Program Files\Playrix Entertainment\Potion Bar (32 bit)


The game installs to a 58.6MB folder. Shortcuts are created for the desktop and the Start Menu/Programs List under Playrix Entertainment. The game plays in XP, Vista and Win 7. You can get today's gamegiveaway 24/7 from MyPlayCity HERE though remember sites like MyPlayCity do sometimes have hidden perils like home page hijacking and toolbar installations as well as less innocuous but nevertheless annoying attributes such as opening your browser when you close the game down. The former can be reversed and are avoidable by unchecking the checkboxes that are presented to you during the installation wizard but the latter is always present in all free games from any of those free sites giving away full version and usually commercial titles such as the ones I mention in the 'Alternatives' section below. ;-)

Main Menu

Early Game Level

l>


Problems installing or activating:l>


If you have difficulty downloading or activating the game you can try again later or do one of the following - for example once downloaded when you click on the dual activation and set up file you may get the message "Failed to connect. Please try again later" If this happens try re-booting your modem and/or router, failing that reboot your computer or clear out the internet cache, in particular the cookies for the game giveawayoftheday then re-try. Last week mike suggested that the problem has something to do with your browser. Check back to last week's games for information on that if the above don't work. Also Mr Snoozles posted another fix about a month ago


Introductionl>
Plunge into the captivating world of magic! Make delicious potions with Rainbow spray and Vampire fangs and serve them to fantastic clients. Decorate glasses with wild lotuses and Phoenix feathers. Witness your amazing potions endow incredible power, reverse aging and help get to the secrets of the Universe. Travel the world and space, see prophetic dreams and solve the enigmatic mystery! Be the first to play this game at Playrix!

Reference accessed HERE Aug 26th 2011

Later Game Level

Potion making Laboratory with Hidden Object mini game

The Gamel>

The game is fully mouse controlled apart from creating your profile. You can create multiple profiles if you wish, which makes this an ideal family game. When you start the game for the first time you'll be asked to create a profile before you can progress further. The options menu is simple with sliders to control the music and sound effects plus check boxes for Full Screen/Windowed mode and one for changing the cursor to a custom cursor.

When you start a new game you will first be shown several pages that give you the background story. You can scroll through these by clicking on each page or skipping altogether by clicking on the skip button to the bottom right of the game screen. Once you're in the potions bar you'll see several more screens of dialogue between yourself and a cat, amonst this dialogu you'll have to click on a letter that tells you that the previous bar man has run away, then you are warned that your first customer is about to arrive.


The game is a light hearted attempt at a time management game (TM game) that even I can play. This isn't like the time management games I've played before in that it's relatively easy going, (well at least for the first several levels that I managed to play while checking this game out last night using the demo). The graphics are excellent and very colourful. You are a (press-ganged) potions bar manager in a witches, wizards , vampires and werewolves bar. Unfortunately, becasue the original bar person ran away you have been trapped at the bar and are not able to leave until the original bar person returns.

Your job is to create a selection of potions that is accomplished by adding various colored liquids into a flask then adding specific ingredients to the flask, then you place the flask onto a burner to cook. When it's done a cork pops off. You then have to add a second ingredient then replace the flask on the stove. When the cork pop's again it's ready to serve to your customer. As you progress through the levels (of which there are only 35) the choice of potions that you have to create increases. Each potion is easy to create as there is always a picture of what you need to create in front of the customer on the bar.

The game starts with a simple tutorial which introduces you to this relatively simple TM game. As you progress through the levels the number of customers increases. You have to collect a specific amount of money within a certain time to complete the level and move on to the next. If you fail to collect the specified amount of money you have to restart the level or start the game over (you are given the choice). As well as potions you also have to occassionaly give talismen away as and when they are requested by a customer. The fiirst talisman is garlic. As the game progresses you will be awarded new talismen to give away as well as new potions and new items such as extra stoves and special flasks. Every few levels you get to purchase new upgrades and create new potions but to be able to do this you have to play a simple hidden object game where you place items on a fancy looking door (sort of like a jigsaw). On completion the door opens and you gain entry into the potion making laboratory where you can then create a new potion by adding various ingredients to a cauldron that are hidden around the lab.

The quicker you create potions for each customer the more money you can earn. You can see the mood of a customer after they have waited some time by a smily face above their heads. If you don't earn a specific amount of money within the given time you have to restart the level.

Options Menu

Door into Potions Laboratory with puzzle pieces to open

Featuresl>

· 35 challenging levels with progressive difficulty

· City episodes in 5 beautiful locations

· Smartly incorporated mini-games

· Engaging story line and vivid characters

· Refreshing blend of mystery and irony

Level Completed

Ending the game

Images & Videol>
You can see a couple of videos of in game features HERE and HERE



You can see a slideshow of over 70 images HERE.







Conclusionl>

I've never really liked TM games as I play games for relaxation discovery or excitement. Most TM games for me are stress increasing, so generally I avoid them, but I quite liked today's game; it wasn't as stressful as most that I've played and I found the concept of potion making appealed to me (I loved chemistry as a child and youth). Overall I would rate this game are very playable and well worth including in your games library. It's well constructed and includes a short story line that adds to the overall playability of this game.


Scoringl>

Score out of 10 = 7.2

Game Play - 7.5
Graphics - 7.5
Audio - 7
Re-playability - 7
Target Groups – 7

Part of Story Board

Letter left at start of game

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Alternativesl>
You'll find over 50 free time management games over at MyPlayCity Reference accessed HERE and include such hits as 3 of the Farm Frenzy games, Amelia's Café, Beach Party Craze, Cake Shop 1 & 2, Magic Farm, Magic Farm: Ultimate Flower, Youda Farmer as well as today's giveaway Potion Bar, which means if you miss today's gamegiveaway you can still get Potion Bar 24/7, though today's giveaway has none of the problems such as your browser being opened when the game closes down or the risk of your home page being changed or tool bars installed that are associated with getting games from such sites as MyPlayCity and others like Gametop (you'll also find some TM games at Gametop. That said those risks are not serious, more like an annoyance.