This is my first time visit at here and i am in fact happy to read everthing at single place.

Couldn't log in to the suggestion area but a list of the powers you earn as you progress thru the game would be helpful. Unless you write them down you forget what they will do.


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

Thanks for your feedback Zen

Has anyone played this all the way through? If so, how do you break the "unbreakable" block on level 7-12? This kind of thing really bugs me. There is one block in the lower right hand corner that won't unlock. I've tried everything - matches in all colors, bombs, lasers, all of the amulets, most everything more than once... Still, that block is stubbornly black. Ideas?


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

Try posting this question in the game discussion forums. hardly anyone will visit this page once the giveaway is over.

I think it's a great game, but unfortunately doesn't work on my 10'' screen. I can't see the bottom of the screen even when I switch into 1024x768. The game still detects just 1024x600. And it makes uselsess the entire bottom part of the game that is rather important in some levels :(


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

Hi Nicky,

Post this in the main forums and maybe someone will come up with a solution. :)

Installs great, looks wonderful and the game its self is really fun but unfortunately it crashes A LOT for me. Could the problem be a windows 8 compatibility issue?


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


Possibly.

Try changing the compatibility to Win 7 or XP. Maybe that will help. Also check your event logs to see if there is any conflicts with other background programs. Try using the free Game Booster which you can get from Razer; that helps by turning off possibe culprits 9plus also increases your RAM potential by 40%..

Hi, I have never downloaded anything like this before and I was successful in getting it done. I am loving the game and find it quite challenging. My computer is a HP Pavillion operating system Windows 8. My adult son was not able to download the software on his Acer that has Windows 8 pro on it. Any suggestions about possible solutions pertaining to this issue would be appreciated. Thanks for the opportunity to have this for free, Cynthia~ :)

I'm loving this game! It's some fresh air into the Match-3 genre, and I appreciate that you can play in relaxed mode, or play as a timed game to get gold for the level: I prefer relaxed, because I just like to solve a puzzle (but I have some gold levels here!). I've never finished any of the Atlantis series match-3 games because I get exasperated at having to restart a level after a timed-out.

Another quality game from Playrix with their gorgeous graphics! Thanks, GGOTD and Playrix, and Whiterabbit for the always-valuable review.

(and I agree with Swamp Thing about Atlantis: Pearls of the Deep -- my sympathies to anyone who missed that giveaway. Wow!)

Looks very nice!!! Thank you very much, GOTD and Playrix!

That´s the way how potential customers should be attracted.

As always another great Playrix game. Love them all. What is making this one so interesting is that its based on actual history of the Dacian region in the Northern Balkans. In the game, the Extras explains some of the history and of course if you trot over to Wikipedia theres a lot more information on the Dracia Kings and the region. The game downloaded super and installed with no problems. Like the music; the graphics are super and a game that I will no doubt have for along time. Love it. Installed on a Quad core, Windows XP SP3. Thank you for having this. I just about passed it by until I saw "Playrix" and Dracia, thats all I needed. Been playing this all day.

Downloaded and installed okay, but unfortunately my computer (more specifically my graphics card) seems to be a little too old for this game. It won't support whatever 3D engine the game uses, meaning bits of the graphics are covered with floating black boxes. Oh well. Perhaps when I upgrade sometime it will work.


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

You need at least shader model 2 for the game to work.

Installed and ran with no problems on Windows XP.

I'm glad they've removed the concept of "lives" from a timed game like this. "Call of Atlantis", which appears to most likely be the same development team, was very well done, EXCEPT for the extreme "time pressure" to finish a level as quickly as possible, or lose a "life". Lose all your "lives" and you had to restart the game from the very beginning. Not a very relaxing experience, and to tell the truth, not very much fun. I don't play puzzle games for "arcade game thrills" and pressure from timers.

But this game at least lets you continue the level and progress eventually, even if you can't complete it in the allotted time for the bonuses.

Unfortunately the music is just as repetitive and teeth-grindingly annoying as "Call of Atlantis", but thankfully it can be muted after it starts to get to you.

When I read the description I was hoping for something similar to "4 Elements", which I found to be excellent, if a little short. It's not, but it's definitely worth a play-through.


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

Thank you for your feedback Bob

I played this game in it's entirety last year after purchasing it. It is a good match 3 game with some hidden object mini games. I really liked it. Too bad I did't wait until it came out on here!

I had already rebooted my machine but was still getting 'Fatal Error in GC' problem so I deleted and reinstalled (but this time on my C: drive. No problem and I have passed the problem level. Vary glad as this is a fun little game.


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

:D

Downloaded, installed, ran fine on Win7/64 Home.

Really enjoyed playing this -- it's a keeper. I like that I'm not cut off if I don't finish in the best time. I play for enjoyment, to get my mind off the day, so I just enjoy the gameplay. The different type of matching is confusing. I still haven't quite figured out exactly what works to make long chains, but I'm sure it'll come with time. It's nice to have a new challenge.

I could have used a bit more explanation with the tutorials as different types of stones were introduced. Sometimes the little animation wasn't clear to me.

I'm probably the only one who complains about this, but I wish the sound and music wouldn't come on without prompting me when I first launch the game. I'm often in a room where I don't want to make noise and I always forget there's going to be a huge blast when it starts up. But I'm glad I can turn the music off separate from the sounds. I usually set the sounds on low so I can hear any cues.

I lost track of time and got totally absorbed in this game for an hour, and that's exactly what I need. Thanks Playrix and GGOTD!



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


Thank you for your feedback Terri.

@ 19 Dianna, sorry to hear about your stroke, hope u r recovering well from it, I work with people who have disabilities & they love playing these sorts of games as it helps in some way to help their rehab, but the trouble is some of them mouse's run away from them so I found a but of Blue Tack helps stop them running all over their desks, must just point out I am talking about Rollerball mice's, not the normal old type. Anyway enjoy Dianna and I sincerely wish playing these games helps you in the long run, we ain't all bad people on here, ask Stepehen aka whiterabbit, just one final thing, there are more Moderator's on here than I and many others knew, nice to see different names. Oh by the way game downloaded fine, and I was able to save it on any hard drive I wanted, as I do with all game downloads, make them safer in case my main drive goes into outer space.

It is a great game. The graphics are beautiful and the music fits with the rest of the game. I'm only in one of the first levels and the game has already convinced me. The great thing is that there is no time limit to complete the level. Nevertheless, one tries of course to finish the level as quickly as possible.
The idea with the hexagonal fields is great. As a result the game differs from many others, although I know also another game which used hexagonal fields. This is certainly a game that you would like to play through in any case.

Unfortunately, one hears noises, just before you reach silver/bronze. This is somewhat annoying. Also, you can do nothing while more stones dissolve.

Otherwise a great game, it is worth to play it. I had no technical problems with the game. (I use Windows 8 x64)

By the way, sorry for my bad English :-D


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

Thank you for your feedback. No need to apologise. There's a multinational community from all over the world that visits this site. :)

Don't even ASK how many hours I've played this while I keep saying, "One more level and then I REALLY need to comment on it!" I totally totally LOVE this game! I'm a big fan of Match 3's. I always thought nothing could be better than the original Jewel Quest until you gave away Pearls of the Deep recently. My productivity has gone WAY down since I started playing that one. I'm busily trying to get to 3 stars on the Challenge levels on that one. But this one is even better! I like hard! I like stressful! I LOVE this game! And the best thing about this game? You can SKIP the hidden objects parts! Even with the hints, I couldn't get them all :-)
Thanks Playrix and GOTD for another GREAT game!


…………………..Moderator Comment…………………..


Glad you like it Barbara

Sadly after saying that I liked this I keep getting an error in level 1-6. Fatal error in GC: GetThreadContext failed. I have disabled my Avast which I thought might be the problem but that didn't help. I am going to delete and reload and if that doesn't work I will try on my other machine which is XP instead of W7 like this one.

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

Such problems are usually associated with a conflict. It may be that you are running something in the background (other than Avast) that may be causing the problem. Try turning off background programs one at a time to see if this fixes the problem. Running Game booster may help as that turns off quite a few unnecessary programs while you play the game, then you can turn them all back on at the click of a button (I think the latest versions of Game booster may even do this automatically when the game is swithched off).

Beautiful graphics and story line. I've only played three levels and I know that I am hooked. Thank you.

I have had a lot of fun with this game.. one of the better Match 3 games out there. I too wish that you could match other sets while your previous match was still continuing, but that is the only criticism I have. Thanks for a great game.

thanks

Good game, looks like it will be a lot of fun. Unfortunately I do most of my work on the weekend so I won't have time to give it a real shakedown until Monday or Tuesday.

I usually just open my download instead of saving it to the temp download file. Oddly it didn't work so I had to do a save instead. Of all the files I have got from here over the years this has happened only once before.

I had no problem saving to an external drive using 'browse' and I normally save all my games to my H: drive.

Only little suggestion: on the level map I expected to click on the next level 'dot' to start it instead of the play button top left. Not a big deal just not the way most 'dot' maps usually work.

Love the fact that I don't time out, just lose the time bonus if I take too long. I play these games to relax and playing against the clock doesn't relax me.

Thanks to Playrix, GGAOTD and, as always, WR.

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

:D

Running Win 7 Pro 64 and also having trouble with freeze ups. Can shut down with taskmgr and restart then a couple of levels it freezes up again. Msg box says "Get thread context failed". Can anyone tell me if its something in my puter or is it the game? Thx in advance.


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

No one else has reported this problem. It's likely (though not necessarily exclusive to) to be your AV software. Try disabling it temporarily and see if you still get this problem. People have reported this when using Avast.

Has anyone else had a problem selecting the 3rd piece of the goblet in level 13.2? The hint show the base piece and I click on it and around it, but I have to skip each time.

Otherwise, I am enjoying it. Thanks

No problems installing and playing on XP but I can see where I'd get bored pretty quickly. Though I understand it gets harder, match 3 games are getting pretty tired, and the story in this one is a little odd but at least you can skip through those parts.

Playrix games are usually my favorites but I'd rather play some of the previous Playrix GGOTD offerings like Royal Envoy or the Fishdoms. (Off-topic - it might be a long time before I see anything as great as that pearls game from a few weeks ago which has me totally obsessed!)

Thanks for all. Not every game can be great but I really appreciate GGOTD and Stephen for your tireless efforts.


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


:)

I just downloaded this game, I love it,,its the best as far as this type of game I have played in a long time. I download and it saves to my game file.. never had a problem with anything I have gotten from this site, The game music is very soothing along with the game play I look forward to the next few levels, as I played 5 befor I posted my review happy playing all this in my book is a winner and thank you got for such great software and games love your site !


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


:)

Downloaded just fine onto my external hard drive and had not problems playing the game. The husband would even enjoy playing this game. Can't wait to see what the give away is tomorrow. Giving this game a thumbs up.

I installed this program. when I ran it, the screen goes black with the following message. "Warning! Your graphics card does not support Shader Model 2.x. Game might not render properly." and 2 buttons "Continue" "Exit"
There is no pointer and I can not get it to select either choice, was going to try "continue" and delete if it did not work. I had to bring up the Task Manager and kill the process. This is the first time this has happened to me, and I have a number of Playrix games. Is there anything I can do, outside of buying a new graphics card? My graphics is handled by the motherboard now. I'm using Windows XP service pack 3, Pentium 4 CPU with 3 gig RAM, Display adapter RADEON 9200 Series.
William Dinkel



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

Hi William, the Radeon 9200 series chip is a decade old now, which is probably why it won't support this game. You can pick up a decent graphics card off e-bay on the cheap that should fix this problem. I have an old NVidia 8500 GS card (with AGP socket) that I'm about to throw away that would have done the job. If you did decide to get a graphics card to upgrade your system (not just for this game), you need to check the socket types on the motherboard. I suspect your computer is quite old by todays standards which means the socket for your graphic card may even be pre date PCI. The latest socket type for graphic cards is PCIe, prior to that it was AGP and prior to that PCI, anything older (around 8 years and older may even be VESA, EISA, ISA (AT or XT) plus others I've forgotten).

I'm always happy to see a new Playrix game. They are quality all the way and this one is no exception. I like that we can click through the storyline if we want to.
I agree with the others about waiting for tiles to drop, especially with the timer ticking away, it feels like I'm being cheated out of valuable seconds to get the gold. Other than that the new way to match pieces is a nice change.
I also had trouble finding some of the missing pieces. In one instance the hint button showed an area, but I still couldn't find it. I ended up skipping that scene.
In the future it would be cool to be able to design our own boards, and if you're looking for new theming there are a ton of good vs. evil and "overcoming" stories in the Bible.
Thank you for another excellent game, GGOTD.


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

Thanks for your feedback Lynn

Love this game. downloaded no problem (XP) very different from usual match 3. Only played 2 levels but I am hooked. Thank you for this game.

We already have this game and I have played it several times and love it!

Sniff...

"Your graphics card does not support Shader Model 2.x. Game may not render properly."

And it doesn't. I get some screens, but not others. So sad. My old hardware is biting me...


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

Sorry to here that. You can pick up older graphics cards with shader model 2 quite cheaply on eBay now. Make sure you know what socket type you nrequire (check your motherboard). (PCIe is the newest, then AGP then PCI, then others are older sockets, but those are almost a decade old now and there wasn't shader model 2 cards back then

Solid keeper. Win 8 x64 Pro. Ran from internal D drive. Creates an icon to run. Options pre-set are right on. Full screen, decent music. Only played tutorial & first level. Need couple levels to fully get hang of how game handles removing stones. Like does it skip a stone if above chain created. Prob not but easy start. Reviews indicate gets lots harder. Hopefully not too hard, and catchy enough to offer variety to this well worn genre. Thanks GOTD. 9/10 first look.

…………………..Moderator Comment…………………..

:)

I like this game, really, I do... except for one tiny problem. It freezes far too often. Five times and I'm only up to level 2-5. The first freeze was at about level 1-3. Three times it has frozen at various points on level 2-3 and this last time at level 2-5. I rebooted my computer after the third freeze, but realistically, I shouldn't have had to reboot at all, and certainly not again so soon. Aside from the freezing, I agree with White Rabbit's assessment of the game. If it would work for me like it's supposed to work...

I am not seeing Data Execution Prevention notices nor any other errors; the game just stops working.


…………………..Moderator Comment…………………..

Hi Lady_D, It could be a conflict problem or a memory problem. Try using Game Booster, that way you can kill two birds with one stone so to speak (i.e. Game Booster turns off unnecessary background programs (which may be the cause of the conflict {assuming it is a conflict}), plus Game Booster can boost your memory by up to 40%. You can get Game Booster for free from Razer.

http://www.razerzone.com/gb-en/gamebooster


Game Booster is already configured to turn off specific windows programs that aren't required to play games, but you can also configure the program to turn off non system programs such as those you may have installed from the giveaway project, or others such as AV programs, back up programs such as Acronis: True Image and Genie timeline, or sandbox programs etc.

Nice match-3, but i noticed a bug it the matching :-)

On level 3 (or 4? the first with an amulet piece), a "purple" dropped at the top center. It matched-3 in the column ONLY, and not the diagonal down to the left. That surprised me, and prevented me from clearing the level in time because the diagonal covered the one remaining tile to be cleared.

I do like the game, and will play it more. Even w/ "bug", it's the first hex match-3 I've seen in a while.

Oh. There was also a typo in "shuffle" in the first hint. It said "shaffle" instead. Again, easy enough to understand - possibly even did it on purpose for look'n'feel - but figured I'd report it anyway.


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


Thank you for your feedback Bryan

I do not comment on games, because I had a stroke. It takes a long time for me to write. I play almost all of the match 3 games you offer. This is my first time writing about a game offered on here. I have to say this is the best. Great music, tremendous graphics and a story line that makes sense. Thank for providing this game.


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

Thank you for your feedback Dianna, hope you are recovering steadily from the stroke. I worked on Stroke rehab for a while many years ago, so can appreciate how hard it can be.

I am so glad that the white rabbit didn't get eaten by the blue wolf!

How many levels equal "tons?" I always have problems with the measurements of weight to measurements of number conversions. And I was a good math student!

"Hey, people, I have a lot of valuable stuff in my house! Please, come and take it from me! Hide it so I can't have it anymore! Please, do it right now. I want to be poor!"

So, that's how this story begins? Very believable!

I DO like a good MATCH 3 game, however, and this one looks just fine. Playrix makes the best games that are given away on this site, in my opinion (NOTHING humble about it.) That graphics look top-notch like always and the long hard levels sound like fun! I'm going to download it and try it out.

Unlike many people who seem to download from this site, I'm not fast enough to try these games out in just a few minutes on a weekend morning.

So, may I say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE the game that was given away here a few weeks ago. Atlantis - Pearls of the Deep is FUN FUN FUN! I have played over 100 levels, and it has really kept my attention. Each level is markedly different. The physics is spot-on. It's not FISHDOM (STILL the BEST game on the time-space continuum) BUT it is a close #2!



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

Thank you for the feedback Swampy.

I found this game on the "freebie circuit" some months ago. Many of the levels are quite difficult but it is a good game.

You do have to click to skip the story EVERY time you play it. It's a bit repetitive to have that same beginning story very time. Most games only do that if you haven't actually played the game or start a new game.

The last level of each "gate" is a HOG and that adds to it, too.

If you miss it here - 3 of the four sites I follow for free games have it available. Only Jenkat is missing right now.


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

I thought Jenkat had the game. Couldn't find it on MPC.

I've downloaded this game twice & both times when I've tried to install it, it says that the setup files are corrupt & to download again. Anyone else having this problem & what do I do now?


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

Sorry for the delay in replying. Try using a different archiver such as 7 zip.

Been playing this and didn't realize almost 2 hours have passed. It keeps you going with the different goals for each to collect and the graphics are awesome. I wasn't sure it would be when it started but it proved it beyond it!


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..

:)

Great match 3 play. Thanks, Playrix and Game Giveaway of the Day!

Playrix is almost ALWAYS a good place for games. Love to get a free one. I haven't played this yet, but it looks fantastic. Can't wait to get started.
Thank you GameGiveAway and Playrix.

Another great game from Playrix. No major problems installing on Windows 7. The one small problem that I have been having lately is the installer seems slow in opening so I end up with 2 installers and have to close one. I will have to be more patient in the future :) Kudos to GGOTD for all the great games.


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..

:)

Thanks for the install tips, folks. It doesn't bring up the drive letter at all (as in the Joe's comments #9) and it wouldn't accept me typing them in myself (disallowed the : and the \

At any rate, I'll try Stephen's tip of just moving the entire folder.

Have gotten through several levels and am enjoying the hexagonal pieces, although I find I sometimes lose my ability to "see" the matches because I forget about diagonal matches. This is a nice change up from typical match 3 games. Thanks for the games


……………………Moderator Comment…………………..


Hope you managed to sort the problem?

@#2 Val, when I download these games, I first save the zip to my desktop, unpack it, and run the install. They always ask where you want to install it, and I just change the path from C:\ to D:\ and use whatever folder name I want, just remember to remove the "program files\Playrix" qualifier.


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

I always install mine to my G:/Games folder (got several drives installed ), which is reserved for games only. My C Drive is reserved for the operating system and system files.

VERY cool game! A real switch up on match 3 games. I don't remember ever playing one that used 6 sided spaces on the board, which makes it possible to make diagonal matches, and even diagonal matches that can connect to a vertical or horizontal match for a much larger token removal.
Each board adds new twists to the game. The first was a basic match three, but then each subsequent board added another condition to the completion scenario. Requiring removal of a number of one color token, then removing a number of certain color tokens, which created a puzzle piece which needs to be removed, and onward.
I only played 4 boards before writing this, but find that it is a very worthwhile download.


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

Thank you for your feedback Joe. You'll find later levels become much harder to complete due to the odd shaped level boards. These can get a little frustrating, but if you persevere you'll finish later levels between 10 to 15 minutes on your first try. :)

7 Gates: The Path to Zamolxes:

Introduction:

A long time ago, the Dacians asked their gods to hide their treasures. Now, you have been chosen to find the treasures and return them to your people in 7 Gates: The Path to Zamolxes! Pass through different temples and return home in this amazing Match 3 game. Embrace your destiny as the chosen one as you progress through tons of levels and find the incredible treasure in 7 Gates: The Path to Zamolxes!

Reference: Accessed HERE 23rd Aug 2013


There are reviews worth reading over at Big Fish if you are unsure about downloading this game HERE

Installation:



The downloaded zip file is 79.1 MB in size 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 cause some security software to alert the user to a possible malware attack, Any positive hits you may get (as one community member did with one of last weeks games) 'WILL' be false positives.

The game giveaway team check every game giveaway 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 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 last year. It's been found that turning off your security temporarily or configuring it to accept the setup.cgd file usually sorts the problem out. Also try right clicking on the orange colored set up file and select Run as Administrator.

The game installs to the following path

C:\Program files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\7 Gates - The Path to Zamolxes\7 Gates - The path to Zamolxes S1.exe"

The installed game is 273MB in size (Much larger than the setup file). There are two shortcuts installed to either the desktop (game shortcut and a shortcut to Playrix) There's also a folder installed to the start menu program list containing the games executable shortcut, a link to the developers web site and an uninstaller.
During the installation wizards progress you are given the opportunity to select your own installation path if you wish; (it's highly recommended, especially if you have a second HDD or a partitioned drive as it will help to keep your system running smoothly - the more you fill your root drive (usually the C: drive), the slower your computer will run, especially as it fills up – if you’ve got a decent sized hard drive of more than a few hundred Gigabytes it’s always a good idea to partition it into at least two drives so that you can keep the operating system and other essential applications separate from other programs and games.

The Game:


7 Gates: The Path to Zamolxes is a typical match three, with a six sided (hexagonal) configuration which lends itself to a more random placing of the tiles and therefore more rplayability. The initial boards are fairly easy, but, once you've passed the first several boards you'll find the difficulty increased. It was taking me 15 minutes or more to complete a level past the eighth or ninth. The last few tiles to be removed were a little frustrating, but perseverance always pays off. There is a timer, but it doesn't lock the level once you've reach the end. Instead it's used to award gold silver or bronze which can be seen on the level map. After 12 levels I'd only got two gold times and two silver, the rest were bronze times, which aren't timed.

Some stones are frozen, so they cannot become part of a chain and be removed from the game board until they are unfrozen. To unfreeze them, create chains of three or more tokens next to the frozen tokens to remove the ice and thereby unfreeze them.
Other stones are locked, but can become part of a chain, but not removed until unlocked. To unlock them, create a chain of three or more tokens. This will break the chain and allow the token to be removed by creating a second chain of similar tokens. You'll also find tiles stacked up to three times. The darker the tile looks the more stacked tiles will be found.

Hint screens will appear at the beginning of the game to introduce you to the various artifacts and token types.

The game is divided into seven regions, each having an artifact that you have to recover. In the first region there are four pieces to recover. Once you've removed all of the tiles from certain levels in the region, the artifact appears. You then have to move the artifact off the board by creating matches below the artifact piece. Also at the end of each level you'll see an image of a statue that as you progress through the region, they are uncovered to show a golden statue beneath. Once uncovered there's a hidden object mini game where you have to find the bits for some magical items such as the fire goblet, magical jewel and sacred fire Once you've found the missing pieces you have to place them in the correct position on the board. you can skip the hidden object mini game if you wish. The first of these mini games has three items to complete, but in later regions statues you uncover more magical items.

Each region has a special amulet that can be recharged by making matches of a particular color, for example the first regions amulet requires you to create matches with the color yellow, the second the color violet, the third green. you can see each amulets color at the bottom of the game board. The first amulet (The shuffle amulet) is unlocked at the start of the game. Using this amulet enables you to shuffle all of the tokens on the board if you are stuck. The amulet can only be used once its been filled by creating the appropriate color matches. The second amulet (The amulet of fire) can be used when you've unlocked the second region, this amulet allows you to change a single tile into the color of this amulet. Each region has 12 levels and there are 7 regions, so there's a total of 84 levels. I've not played past the second region so don't know what the rest of the amulets do, but I suspect each amulet allows you to change a single tile to the color associated with that tile. Only amulets that have been unlocked will charge up.

Completing a level before the gold bar is depleted earns you a gold time award which is displayed on the level map. You can find the bar to the left of the main game will earn you a gold time award. Once the gold bar is depleted a silver bar takes its place, if you complete the level before this one ends you'll get a silver time award. The bronze time award is awarded thereafter.

At the end of each level you'll be told how long the level took to complete, how much you earned in time bonuses. You'll only get bonus points if you complete the level within the gold or silver times. Plus the total score.

Apart from clearing all of the tiles on a level additional win conditions such as collecting a number of stones of a specific color, or collecting a piece of an artifact (which spawns on certain levels once you've removed all of the tiles) are required to complete the level.

Each region is introduced with a short story board which you can skip if you wish.

If you miss today's giveaway you can still get the game for free from Jenkat Games


If you miss today’s game, lose it to a format or decide you want it after the giveaway has finished, the good news is that it’s available for free 365.25 days a year over at Jenkat Games HERE

Video & Images:

You can see around 110 images of the game as a slideshow HERE and some videos of game play HERE, HERE and HERE



System Requirements:


Windows XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8
CPU: 1.8 Ghz
RAM: 1024 MB
DirectX: 9.0
HDD: 285 MB

Conclusion:


7 Gates: The Path to Zamolxes is an average match three with decent graphics and game play that should hold your attention. As you progress through the levels they do get successively harder as more components such as frozen, chained and multi layered tiles are added. If you want a challenging Match Three, this game is for you. I found later levels quite hard due to the configuration of the boards. You can expect levels to take up to 15 or more minutes to complete once you've passed the first several levels. :)

The story adds to the game, but, if you want you can quickly pass these by clicking on the skip button,


Scoring:

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 7.5
Audio: & sound effects: 7.5
Re-playability: 7
Originality: 6

Total = 7 out of 10

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Problems with the game?:

If you have any problems installing or playing today's game please go to the game discussion forums where you'll find a FAQ's section HERE. It may also be a good idea to post details of any problems you have over in the game discussion forums. You can find the thread HERE. I've included a return link to this comments section over in the game discussion thread. :)

If you see someone's query and are able to answer them, would you please also post over in the thread I've linked to above because moderation is going to be very sporadic today and queries and answers may not appear for many hours.

Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to help. :)

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If today's game doesn't take your fancy then check out the game discussion forums and the free games synopsis. We’ve posted a couple of thousand free games over the last four years, many of which are excellent alternatives to their commercial cousins.

The deals over on Steam include a free weekend playing Orion Dino Horde with 75% off if you decide to purchase it (£2.99). The witcher franchise is also 75% off this weekend, plus there are loads of other excellent deals such as 50% off Don't Starve, 75% off the Total War Master Collection (includes Empire, Medieval II, Napoleon, Rome, Total War Battles: Shogun, Shogun 2,5Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai and Viking: Battle for Asgard. - it doesn't include any of the dlc's. to get all of the dlcs with this bundle you need to purchase the Total War Grand Master Collection which is almost £60 ). It doesn't include the soon to be released Rome 2 or the original Shogun and Medieval games. There's 50% off Insurgency, 50% off Wargame: Airland Battle, 75% off Arcania + Gothic Pack (Arcania, Arcania: Fall of Setarrif, Gothic 1, Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition, Gothic II: Gold Edition and Gothic 3). 75% off Of Orcs & Men, 75% off Blood Bowl, 40% off Remember Me, plus over 100 games ar eon sale.

Also there are over a hundred games on sale this weekend on Steam alone. If you pre order The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (£26.99 with 10% off) you'll get a bonus mission, a free copy of Spec Ops: The Line, (an excellent third person shooter, with gorgeous environments plus the whole collection of X-Com games (6 games) including the latest X-Com: Enemy Unknown (doesn't include any of the dlc's)

Today's 24/48hr deals are 66% off Thomas Was Alone plus 75% off the Fallout Collection (this pack includes the first three games in the fallout franchise).


For more deals check out the latest game available on IndieGameStand HERE
You can pay as much as you want but no less than $1. The present game is called Questrun. If you pay more than the average which stands at £1.75, you also get a second game called Skies and the music for Quest Run. Both games come with Desura keys as well as DRM free downloads and both are on Steams Greenlight list, so you may also get Steam keys later. This deal ends Wednesday morning 4am (GMT)


There's also quite a few decent deals over on Desura, Greenman Gaming as well as other game distributors such as Gamersgate and Gamefly. Finally, you'll also find a few indie bundles still live. You'll find details of all the bundles still available over in the first two pages of the Game discussion forums HERE These are the best way to get bargains as you can often get $100 plus worth of games for around $5 or less. (e.g. last November/December THQ sold their entire recent catalogue worth almost $500 for less than $6 and presently there's a Humble bundle Origin bundle - see below for details)

Check out the Bundle Stars deals for the best bundles around at the moment. There are at least 4 Bundle Stars packs still available, each with at least 9 or 10 games (all with Steam keys) for less than £4 for each bundle. Best of all, the latest Humble Bundle beats last years THQ bundle with several high profile games included in the Bundle (Battlefield 3, Medal of Honor, Dead Space 1 and 3, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, Mirror's Edge, Crysis 2: Maximum Edition, The Sims 3 + Starter Pack, Command & Conquor: Red Alert 3 Uprising and Populous (this bundle ends on Wedsday 28th at 6pm GMT). The Origin bundle would have cost you literally hundreds of pounds (or dollars) worth of AAA games, many of which are still current; and all for less than $5. Some of the games require Origin, others Steam. Some you get both Steam and Origin versions. This is an amazing deal, with First Person Shooters, Real time Strategy, First Person Horror, Racing (bikes and cars) and simulations as well as a beautifully rendered and executed parkour like game (Mirror's Edge) (Parkour is where a person runs and jumps over roof tops and other high places)





Please note that if you get any games from Gametop or MyPlayCity you need to watch out for toolbar installations and home page hijacks. Just un-check the check boxes. with MPC games you may need to do this every time you boot a game up unless you create a new shortcut from the installed executable.

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A Request for help:

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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I typically install these games on an external hard drive but this one would not allow me to select any drive at all - forced to install on my C drive. Does anyone know a way around this?

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

Cut and paste the whole folder from the C drive and paste it where you want it to go. Then create a new shortcut from the games executable. If you want to create a shortcut and uninstaller you'll have to look for the start menu programs folder, then replace the original shortcuts with new ones. (Copy and paste them over from the games moved folder. Make sure you delete all of the original shortcuts.

Although I've only played the first 9 levels, I envision many hours of fun with this game. It's much more challenging than some match-3 games; after repeated attempts (>10), I still haven't achieved gold status on level 9!

I really like the ability to switch between window and full-screen modes as well as muting all music/sound. Also, the option to skip the story is especially helpful when repeating levels and the game instructions are quite clear.

That being said, there are two features I found annoying:
1) The chaining matches take forever (probably over half my game time)...it'd be nice if I could continue making matches while the board continues to fill up (instead of staring into space wishing it would hurry up).
2) The chaining matches only seem to take out matches in a single direction, which can be annoying when matches intersect and I'd expect a cross-shaped match to be removed.

All in all, a very pleasing game--thanks GOTD!


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

Thank you for your feedback gamer, I too have found it hard to get silver and gold status on later levels. took me over 16 minutes to complete level 11. :D

Hmmm no post by thw rabbit?? Maybe that blue wolf up above
in post , caught and ate the Rabbit!! Going take me 6 plus hours to download this match 3 - hope it's good??? That blue wolf looks cool - mainly downloading vecus game looks like it might have good pics for wallpaper! Only a mild fan of match 3!! A song for you dudes - Rabbit,
you belong to me said the Hungry blue Wolf! http://archive.org/download/TheOrioles-01-50/The%20Orioles%20-%20You%20Belong%20to%20Me.mp3
50 Moresongs for gotd dudes - https://ia601604.us.archive.org/26/items/TheOrioles-01-50/


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

I fell asleep at the keyboard last night, so didn't finish the review. Needed to get to at least the second region in game so that I could write up a reasonable review. It took far longer than I expected as the game has some quite difficult levels. I did post (or though I had) a small post to reserve the first place spot so that I could post my review when completed, but the post man called just before I clicked on 'post', then promptly forgot.