HI!

Downloaded very easily and played a few rounds quickly! I'm sure it gets more difficult as the levels increase and will find out when have more time to play!!
Thanks for another great game!! Glad son doing well
and I concur... thank you for hard work! know how time consuming it can be!!!
Happy Memorial Weekend!


........................Moderator comemnt......................

please excuse the late moderation. Thanks Lee. :)

I really enjoy these games but I am having a problem.
I get a "files are corrupted". I have downloaded this 3 times and the same result. If someone can tell me what is wrong I would appreciate it. Also is there another site that I can download this game?
Another time, someone left a link and that worked ok.
I would appreciate any help you can give



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


http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/forum/17

Hi Anne, try using a different file archiver. Check out the FAQ's section http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647 I've linked to several free ones such as 7 Zip.

As for getting this free from other sites. I posted three links in my review to MyPlayCity, Gametop and Jenkat Games. Plus Diane linked to two other sites FreeGamePick and another one I've not heard of until recently. All five sites allow you to download and install this game 24/7, but you have to make sure you check all of the check boxes during installation otherwise you may find your home page changed, tool bars installed and your browser changed.

I have tried 7-zip, j-zip and the one that's built into windows 8. When I click extract, nothing happens. I'm no computer wiz, but I never had a problem until I got this computer.

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

Sorry I couldn't help. Post the problem in the Game Discussion forums; someone may still be able to help for future giveaways.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/forum/17

Your reviews are always so well written, Stephen. Thank you for all your hard work.


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

I use a basic format, which i based on a basic science project write up (i,e, summary, intro, installation, main body of review, additional data and conclusion), I have a copy of the basics, and just have to change the video links, all the main headings are unchanged apart from the title, so it saves some time.

I also sometimes borrow other reviews from places like Gamezebo (I always reference material I use from other sources) if I don't have the time or the will to spend hours playing a game, then writing up a full review. Sometimes I only get to know what the weekend game is going to be late on Friday, so have little time to prepare a good review. It's usually times like that when i use other sources.

I used to get 2 or 3 days advanced warning, but rarely do now.

Thanks for your kind words. always appreciated and one of the reasons I carry

I have a new computer with windows 8 and I cannot get these giveaway files to unzip. Is anyone else having this problem? Same thing happened with last week's giveaway. When I click 'extract', nothing happens


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

Follow the link I've provided in my review to the FAQ's over in the Game Discussion forums. you'll find several links to free file archivers. Try one of these. I've had similar problems to yours in the past and found using a different file archiver to unzip the file worked. Try 7 zip or J zip.


http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647

Very enjoyable game. I'd already had a copy of it from when I had an account with Gamehouse a number of years ago, but I had to listen to a commercial between each level. Thank you for this copy so commercials aren't necessary anymore.

Thank you for all your work on this site. I always look forward to see what you will be offering each weekend.

I agree that this is not the proper mahjong game. You need 4 players and it is pretty complex to learn all the combinations to win but it is so addictive and great. I wish GOTD would get one of such game. I had Hogkong Mahjong and another one I forgot the name which used to get mahjong, dynasty, pandemonium, etc...

Anyway, I also like this game. It's simple and relaxing... You can always cheat a bit if you get stuck... ;-)

Good game. Starts fast Win 8.1 x64 Update 1 unlike comment about delay. Plays smooth, nice keeper for mix of two good styles. Thanks. Remember those who paid the price too early this long weekend.

Hi Stephen,

Glad to hear your son is recovering and hope he continues to do well.

I had downloaded Alice's Magical Mahjong last year, and enjoyed playing this charming (as mentioned in some of the comments above) game which combines Mahjong solitaire and mini HOG. I think it has significant appeal for children especially girls. However, I do like World's Greatest Cities Mahjong more. I find a few annoyances with Alice -- like having the level map pop up after every level with the entire map traced even if you have only completed the first level and the rest of the levels are grayed out, rather than just letting us see our progress traced and/or in bright color. I also find the cartoon style a bit cloying -- I guess I am a traditionalist and would prefer something closer to the classic illustrations.

My only true complaint and suggestion to the developers is the narrative -- it is too soft and I cannot understand all that is being said. While we have options to adjust sound levels for music and effects, there is only on/off for the voices.

As always, my thanks to GGOTD and Playrix for offering us so many games, and to you Stephen for all your good work.

Cara in NC


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

Thanks for your feedback and well wishes, much appreciated. :)

Stephen, thanks for your suggestions. I've tried using Razer Game Booster and running in administrator mode as well as closing down all non-essential background processes, but the same error pops up. It's puzzling - I've never had this problem with any other software.

Anyway I now have Razer Game Booster, which I didn't know about before, so there's a silver lining. :)


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

Cool, it's a good application. Check Mikes advice above; hopefully that will help. If you still can't get it to work, trey installing one of the free versions I've linked to in my review. (Make sure you un-check the check boxes during installation).

If you're not happy using the free versions maybe try and mix and match the files from each version to see if you can get the giveaway version to work. This isn't guaranteed to work, but you just may get lucky. Have you tried changing the screen resolution of your monitor before running the game? Itr may be that you are running a non standard resolution? (Just a suggestion).

#2: "I love the look of Alice’s Magical Mahjong but sadly it won’t run on my PC."

It will run in a VBox win7 32 VM, hinting that the problem is more about what features your graphics hardware & drivers support rather than not having powerful enough hardware. In the forum I'm posting a more detailed response on running games like this in a VM.


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

Thanks for your advice Mike, much appreciated.

A very nice game which I downloaded last time, and still have.

The graphics are fun - not dark and gloomy as some games are, so better for younger or older eyes, and amusing to play. The early levels are quite simple and straightforward, but it does become more challenging as you progress.

It's one of the few games that I have actually managed to play right through to the end, and the thrilling conclusion! So - yes, I can recommend it for most age groups, and for anyone who wants a light-hearted way of avoiding work for a few hours.

OOPS! I mean, of course - for anyone who wants an enjoyable way of spending your tea break. Thanks again to Whiterabbit and GGAOTD - and of coure, Playrix.


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

Thanks for your feedback Basilica

Like others, I just downloaded, installed, and gave it a "quick" run thru to make sure it worked. An hour and several "just one mores" later, I had to force myself to quit so I could get on with tasks for the day.

As expected with Playrix, it's very enjoyable to play. I like the different twist on Mahjong (or tile-matching game), where you just have to free the special tiles instead of them all. Hidden object breaks were so-so, and I was glad they didn't hang me up too long. I play games to relax and clear my mind from stress, so don't like an excessive challenge.

I'm glad I was able to turn off music and turn down sound effects. I'm glad I was able to quickly click past the story, at least everything so far. I don't think there has been a single game ever where I've cared about the story, so I appreciate when it's made an option. The game had a little hiccup going into windowed mode, which I prefer, but it was probably my fault for having several other programs running. I managed to get it shut down and reboot, and then it came back up fine with everything visible in the window. I'm glad the images on the tiles aren't the standard ones most mahjong games use -- for some reason my eyes have a hard time with those.

All in all, a wonderful break this morning. It's definitely going to one of my top choices for game play in the future.

Thanks Playrix and GGOTD!

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

Thanks for your feedback Dani, much appreciatd. :D

When I clicked to run this game I got a message that something called "Direct Play" was needed and offered to install it. I opted not to install and the game continued to load and ran alright as far as I can tell. I didn't really play it to be honest just let it load and turned it off.

What is the "Direct Play" and is it really needed? Googled it but still not sure what it is and if it's needed.

Tks in advance.


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

Thanks for your feedback, Direct Play is something Microsoft came up with to connect games together online and allow voice communications. If this game was multiplayer, I'd see why it was needed, but it's a single player game, so isn't needed.

Have been playing this since the last time it was offered here, it's definitely a keeper. Graphics and narration seem aimed at those of a younger persuasion, but there is a very good game underneath. Replay value is good, there are enough levels and enough challenge that you can complete the game and start right over. Pay close attention when the tiles are falling into place and note the position of the gold tiles, match those two as quickly as possible for best scores.


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

Thanks for your feedback

I still play this game. It's great for handicapped people!

Glad to hear your son is at home and doing well, Stephen! Sigh, the young recover so quickly, don't they - I'm jealous! OTOH, my mother has had several surgeries in the last year and has been told she recovers like a 40 year old - and she's 92! I hope I inherited her genes, but after working on the yard, car, and house, and suffering thru a fitful night I'm not so sure...

As for this game, it's one of my favorite mahjong games, and it's Playrix to boot - always a plus. My SO and I both like mahjong, and this is a wonderful step up from our usual straightforward types; I think we must have over a dozen different mahjong games between us, and this is one of my favorites tho she prefers her board-type game as her #1. But for me, Alice Mahjong features colorful and smooth graphics, good gameplay, well-done levels, and smooth transitions - that is, not boring, almost fun to watch, and not too many buttons to move up a level. I like almost everything about this one, I guess!

It also has a surprising amount of repeat play IMO, and I've played thru several times. Strategy isn't that hard, and the colorful and well-designed tiles are easy to keep track of. I generally don't listen to the music so won't comment on that.

All in all, I can heartily endorse Playrixs' Alice Mahjong as a keeper, and would rank it 9+ of 10, or about the highest vote I'll give any game. Lots of fun and well-done; I don't have any suggestions to improve it, and it'll be on my computers for a long time.
John

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

Thanks for your feedback and well wishes JL, much appreciated. :)

I am still running xp and the game loaded and ran fine on the system that I have. Thank you, playtrix and giveaway team.

I already have it from the last time and am not through with it already but I like it very much and can recommend it if you like Mahjong.

What a delightful game. I was just going to see if it ran, and an hour later I'm still hopping down the bunny trail...

Excellent game! Thanks! I wish I had some feedback, but the developers obviously know what they're doing here. Recommend this one!

I started to play this and was most impressed with the quality (as ever where Playrix is concerned!). It looks to be a great game, but sadly isn't for me. I have some eye problems and the beautiful way the game tracks the cursor and shows the tiles disappearing is just too much for my eyes to cope with.

From the little I've seen, despite my personal difficulties with the game, it looks absolutely lovely and even apart from the actual tile-matching game itself would serve as a great introduction to one of the great English classics.

WHITE RABBIT's very own game! Yay!

I downloaded this game last March 9th (WHAT A GREAT MEMORY I HAVE!) and LOVED IT MOOOOORE than I loved any other game I have downloaded hence to now!

(NOW don't get me wrong. FISHDOM (!) is still the WINNER of the BEST GAME MADE in the HISTORY of HIS STORY but it was downloaded Pre 2013.)

This is ONE (#1) UNO of the(very) FEW games games I have played all the way through to the finish. COULDN'T STOP! HAD to (!) get that poor lil girl outta that crazy place!

I love the GRAPHICS! They are amazzzzingly CUTE, more CUTE, and most CUTE! EVER!

MAHJONG games are FUN! I love them!!!!

Hidden Object games were UNFUN! I hated them!!! BUT BUT BUT I hated the hidden object parts of THIS GAME less than I hated the hidden object parts of ANY OTHER GAME! And I DON'T hate them nearly as much NOW as I did 14 months ago. THANK YOU, ALICE!

DING! DING! DING! WINNER WINNER Chicken Dinner!!! Thank you, WHITE RABBIT!

ENJOY YOUR SPECIAL DAY!


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

:)

Another great Playrix game. I have this from a previous giveaway, but appreciate the opportunity to add it to my new Win 8.1 x64 desktop machine. Great graphics.

If you enjoy traditional Mahjong, you might check out a card game called Mhing that's pretty close. It's currently out of print, but there are lots of copies available on eBay.

I found this game at MyPlayCity.com several years ago. At that time, under Vista, I noticed that often it would change my color scheme to "basic" but restore it after the game ended. That doesn't happen under my Windows 7 machine.

I see that it is available from all 5 (yes, it's now 5) free game sites that I follow - MyPlayCity, Jenkat, GameTop, FreeGamePick and MyRealGames. All have some install "gotchas" to watch for but only MyRealGames and GameTop give you any choice as to where it installs and Jenkat, while not opening the browser at the end, makes a royal mess over time of your Program Files (or Program Files (x86)). I don't know which one to recommend!

The game itself is a keeper. It's one of my favorite Mahjong games. It's not as difficult as some but it's fun to try to beat your own time and get to those golden tiles fastest! You don't have to clear all the tiles, just get to the gold ones! Watch as they lay out and you can usually spot where they are hidden. And the tiles themselves are easy on the eyes and easier to match up than the traditional styles.


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

Thanks Diane

Is there any way to change the resolution as the game looks quite soft and pixeleted.

Forgot to put in url for the 3 free games - crazy lunch (9.9 MB) Theseus - Return of the Hero (32 MB) Chaks Temple (24.2 MB)
http://www.sigma-team.net/games/freeware/index.html


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

The developers converted these games to freeware several years ago. You'll find details in the Games discussion forums, via the Free Games synopsis.

I got this game from gotd last year! Enjoyable game! For dudes who got this game already and need to download something - 3 games from sigma-team (freeware)- 1. Crazy Lunch (9.9 MB)- was given alway on gotd on April 6, 2007) 2. Theseus - Return of the Hero (32 MB) and 3. Chaks Temple (24.2 MB)! Tip - was looking for serial no of Crazy Lunch and went to maker of game page - it was freeware! other web pages it was still being sold! Several games, (21), which I LOOKED FOR their serial no. - they were shareware on mutiple pages, but on maker of game site - they were freeware!

Hi, as far as I can see - it's the same Game given here in March 2013 (downloaded today to different location to compare Content), never mind, it's a brilliant and charming Game that can take your mind away from 'it all'.. Being a fan of logical puzzles, and Mahjonggs (I have quite a collection:) - my all time favorites in this field - I recommend this fun version of them, as 'Alice’s Magical Mahjong' no doubt is. There is a story and quest here, as been said, and not just clearing every last Tile, so interesting from that perspective, not to mention cute graphics. Sometimes 'no nonsense' Mahjong is fun enough, sometimes this one (with it's mini games in-between) - can provide break from the others. Naturally children can be nicely introduced to the 'World of Mahjongg' by this one. Thanks for this Game, and Whiterabbit - for explaining the origins of Your choice of initial and psychedelic Name.., those were the times, eh?:) Have a great Sunday Everyone, and Bank Holiday here in UK.


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

Thanks for your feedback Fran; and, yes they were. Still watch Woodstock whenever I get the chance. :)

@mikel: "One day, the people in the west will find out how to play mahjong..." - certainly not. When I see the screenshots it´s enough - no, thank you.

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

four player Mahjong is a beautiful game.

Downloaded and running fine on Win 7, 64bit, I thought I would give it a quick try out before I made any comments, that quick try out lasted just short of 2hrs. Enjoyable game, good graphics and plays with no hassle, its a fun game, as usual from Playrix always worth keeping their games, the mah-jong games are pretty simple and easy to finish that is about the only complaint I have with this game, score an easy 9/10 from me.
Stephen how is your lad getting on after breaking bones last week, hope all is healing well, and sending him good wishes for a speedy recovery.


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

Thanks for your feedback and well wishes Kevin. He's doing fine. At home and enjoying lots of fuss. :)

Cute, but this is not mahjong. It is a matching pairs game using mahjong tiles.
One day, the people in the west will find out how to play mahjong properly & understand what the pretty pix on the tiles really mean.

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

Got to agree with you on this. I used to play Mahjong in preference to chess back in the 1970's and continued to do so until the advent of personal computers. I have a four player computer version called Hong Kong Mahjong, which can be played with AI. Great game. much prefer it to these 'patience' games.

Is it the same game that was given away before, or is it an updated version?


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

as mentioned in my review above, it's the same version.

I love the look of Alice's Magical Mahjong but sadly it won't run on my PC. When I try to run it I get the message "Unexpected error occured when running the game." I'm still on Windows XP SP3 (groan!) but I've seen somebody else report the issue on Windows 7.

I had this problem when the game was given away last year and I reported it to Playrix. They offered to look at my system info (dxdiag) and then sent me a link to a fresh download for a new install. They really could not have been more helpful, but unfortunately the new download did not work either on my setup. There must be a clash with something else I have installed. Oh well, I'll have to wait until I can afford another computer.


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

check out the FAQ's I've linked to. you'll find it in the Sticky section of the Game Discussion forums.

Alternatively, try turning off background programs to see if there is a conflict. Game Booster is a good start. It automatically turns off system programs that aren't required to run the game, plus you can configure it to turn off other programs. The beauty of this program is that with one key press everything reverts back to normal.

Alice's Magical Mah-jong v1.05:





In Brief:

Alice's Magical Mahjong is a colorful Mahjong game with a hidden object twist! Scores 8 out of 10. This is the same version we were given last year.

Installation:


Alice’s Magical Mahjong downloads to a 60.5 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup activation 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. 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 installed game is 56.1 MB in size. and installs to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Alices Magical Mahjong

by default but can be changed to suit whatever your wishes are. There is no uninstaller, but this game is free standing so to delete just remove the installed folder from your hard drive.

Shortcuts are installed to both the Desktop and Start Menu /Programs folder under Playrix Entertainment, (not sure where in Win 8) and you'll also find an uninstaller in the programs folder as well as a link to Playrix Once the game is installed you can delete the giveaway setup files.

I've only tested the game on Win 7 and Win 8. Anyone running Vista or XP, please confirm whether this game works Thanks.



If you miss the giveaway or have problems installing the game is available 24/7 from MyPlayCity, Jenkat Games and Gametop. Do remember to uncheck any tick boxes, otherwise you may find your home page changed, a new browser installed or tool bars installed.














Introduction:

Head down the rabbit hole for fanciful Mahjong fun with a hidden object twist! Join Alice from Lewis Carroll's classic story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in this imaginative journey. Help all her quirky friends, including the mad hatter, the white rabbit, and the caterpillar, in this charming world. Step through the looking glass and into the world of Alice`s Magical Mahjong today!

Reference accessed HERE March 2013

The Game:



There are over 175 unique layouts to play through. Although not true mahjong IMO (I play the four player variety) I'm sure most community members know how to play mahjong solitaire games. Basically you have to remove all the tiles from the level by matching pairs together. That said, its not as simple as that. You can only match 'Free' tiles. These are tiles that have no tiles on top or directly on either side of the tile. Its always advisable to remove pairs that have tiles on the tallest stacks or long rows first; also try to remove tile matches that free up the greatest number of locked tiles first. Always be aware of 3 matching free tiles. Choose the pair that will free up the greatest number of locked tiles first and leave the tile that is blocking fewer important tiles.

Suit tiles (red and blue) are unique in the game of mahjong solitaire, they are the only tiles in the game that can create matching pairs with tiles that differ. The four blue suits can be matched with any combination of blue tiles and the same goes for the red suits.
To help complete a level try to plan as many moves ahead as you can. To complete a level you don't have to completely clear a level, just clear the gold tiles.






From the main menu you can select options to change the volume of music and sound effects, toggle off voices, change from full screen (default) to widowed and vice verca as well as check out the credits. Also from the main menu you can check out game play by clicking on the 'how to play ' button, which basically says the same as what I've written above. The extras button allows you to play the game in classic mode (with no HOG elements) and also create your own levels via the editor. If you want to play the game with HOG elements just click on play from the main menu. The game is introduced by a short storyboard, which pops up throughout the game that follows the story of Alice in Wonderland. You can skip these boards by clicking on the continue button to the bottom right of the screen, but there's no way of completely avoiding them. Once you've left the initial introductory storyboard you are introduced to the level map that takes you through the adventures of Alice as told by Lewis Carroll. You can continue on playing the game, or return to the menu to select the traditional game if you wish.




Before you start in the main mahjong mode you will get your first HOG, which is a find the White Rabbits. ;) If you get stuck, there is a hint button. Thankfully there's no clouds of glitter to indicate where you can find any objects unless you use the hints. Sometimes you'll get to a point where there is no moves. A small window will pop up that allows you to either start the level again, shuffle the tiles or exit the game. If you exit part way through at this stage you will lose progress on the level, but when you return will start from the beginning of the level. levels do have a timer, but this isn't for stopping the level after a specific time, its just for recod purposes. At the end of a level it will tel you your best time.

You can create multiple profiles, so the game is ideal for a family.

The background music is entirely appropriate to the story and game IMO, but can be turned off as already mentioned elsewhere via the options menu. The narration is by a female. Each level has a hint button that will highlight a single matching pair. Each time you click the hint button it will highlight a different pair (if there is any) and will cycle through the pairs if you continue to use the hint button. There doesn't appear to be any penalty using the hint button. You can also highlight all free tiles via the 'show free tiles', button. Along the top of the playing arena from the left you can see how long you've taken on the level, with the best time below. If you pause the game (by clicking on the pause button, or if in windowed mode clicking outside the window) the timer also pauses. In the middle is the level number and to the top right the number of matching pairs available and the number of tiles remaining. Along the bottom from left to right are the menu ,hint, show free tiles and pause buttons.


To exit the game either click on the menu button, which opens a small window with several options (main menu, options, new layout, how to play and resume), then click on the main menu button, this brings up another small window that tells you that exiting to the main menu will save your current game with a small button that says don't display in the future. Click on the Okay button to proceed to the main menu where you can exit the game properly; or, alternatively click on escape key which brings up a window that enables you to leave the game immediately. Your game will be saved at the beginning of the level or HOG you left it.

The only negative I have with this game is its boot up time. It takes over 40 seconds for the game to open up to the main menu.

On the surface, the concept of combining the ancient Chinese tile-matching pastime of mahjong with British author Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland seems as far-fetched as... well, a white rabbit in a waistcoat carrying a pocket watch. But thanks to outstanding production values, solid mahjong gameplay, and well-executed hidden object rounds that don't manage to feel tacked on, Alice's Magical Mahjong is a thoroughly charming outing.

Like the book on which it's based, the plot of Alice's Magical Mahjong begins when the young girl Alice chases an odd-looking rabbit into a hole and emerges in a strange Wonderland. The game's 10 chapters are more or less faithful to the whimsical events of the story, as Alice races a Dodo bird, is given advice by a smoking caterpillar, has tea with the Hatter and the March Hare, encounters the grinning Cheshire Cat and plays croquet with the Queen of Hearts.

The scenarios are brought to life by soft and beautiful visuals, wonderful voice-acting and atmospheric music. Each chapter begins with a bit of narrative to set the stage, then dives into a hidden object challenge. There are two types; one is a traditional search for random items like an umbrella, crown or clock, while the second is related to the story at hand. For example, in the first chapter, Down the Rabbit Hole, Alice must find five white rabbits hidden in a painting.




These are no run of the mill hidden object mash-ups, however. Instead, each picture is a hand-drawn in the style of a Where's Waldo book, where the objects to find are actually part of the scene in some playful way. For example, in a later chapter you're given a painting of a flooded room and have to find five gray mice. Instead of just being super-imposed onto a scene, one mouse is balancing on a life-preserver, another is perched next to a gargoyle, and a third is poking its head out of a flower pot.

Once the hidden object portion has been passed - and admittedly these scenes won't be overly challenging to complete, especially if you use the available hints by drinking from Alice's Drink Me bottle - it's on to the mahjong phase of the chapter.

The goal of mahjong, for those unfamiliar with it, is to clear a board of tiles arranged in a certain pattern by removing pairs of matching tiles. A tile can only be moved if it's "free," meaning it can slide to the left or right. In this case, traditional Chinese symbols have been replaced by Alice-themed symbols like mushrooms, top hats, playing cards and question marks.

While the goal of traditional mahjong is to clear the entire board, Alice's Magical Mahjong takes a page from the Mahjong Escape games where you don't actually have to clear the board to win, but rather just uncover and match two special golden tiles.

What does playing mah-jong have to do with the story, you ask? Well, the item depicted on the golden tile is an important plot item; for example, the rabbit's white gloves that he asks Alice to find, or the caterpillar's hookah (smoking pipe), or invitations to the Queen's party.

Although the first few levels are easy, don't be fooled. They quickly become more challenging as the board layouts become more intricate. If you reach a point where there are no more matches to be made, you can shuffle the board or restart with the same tiles to try a different strategy. You can also toggle on or off a mode that shows you which tiles are free, and use a limited number of hints to reveal a possible match.

There's the occasional power-up, but the game isn't inundated with them. There's a special lock tile that can only be paired with a door tile, for example. Also, matching two special silver-colored tiles clears all tiles of that type from the board (i.e. if the two tiles have blue symbols then all the blue tiles will be removed).

During the mah-jong rounds, Alice and other denizens of Wonderland, like the Cheshire Cat, will pop in with the occasional comment. It's just one example of a dozen little extra magical touches that help elevate the game above the status quo, including menus that sprout flowers when you run the mouse over them, the beautiful map that charts Alice's progress, and the charming animations that occur when you match two silver tiles, like water washing the extra tiles away or butterflies fluttering away with them.

Granted, Alice's Magical Mah-jong has a few bumps as well. Sometimes it's hard to tell if a tile is free because of the board's top-down perspective. Some of the hidden object items are hard to see, and the text during the narrative scenes doesn't cover everything that's actually being said, so if you can't hear the voice-overs you'll miss a significant chunk of the story.

However, these are small quibbles in the face of the overwhelming number of things the game does right. And as if the features I've raved about already weren't enough, there's also a Classic mode featuring 108 additional mah-jong layouts to try (again, reminiscent of the Mah-jong Escape series), as well as the ace up the game's sleeve: a full-fledged level editor where you can create your own custom mahjong boards.

Reference accessed HERE May 2014

System Requirements:


OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8

CPU: 800 MHz

System RAM: 128 MB

DirectX: 8.1 or higher

Hard Drive: 60 MB





Video & Images:

You can see a slideshow of almost 60 images of the game showing the menus, href="http://s571.photobucket.com/albums/ss160/Whiterabbit04/Alices%20Magical%20Mahjong/?albumview=slideshow" rel="nofollow">HERE. Also several videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE,
HERE
and HERE(French)










Music:

You can change the music by swapping the music files via the following path. You will need to rename each file and convert them to the .ogg format:


C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Alice's Magical Mahjong\resources\x.ogg

where x.ogg represents the music files. Most of the files are sound bites for the various sound effects and these shouldn't be changed unless you want the game to sound crazy. The music files are not that obvious as they are mixed up with a few hundred other files. Look for files such as snd_intro1.ogg oand snd_game_background_1.ogg

Conclusion:

Overall I've really enjoyed playing this game. Mahjiong solitaire is an excellent game and you'll find loads of levels to work through as well as create your own via the level editor (which I've not had time to check out yet) . The addition of a level editor is always a bonus.

I'm not really into Hidden Object games any more, but the ones provided with this game are very easy. This is a great game for all the family from the kids through to great grand parents; (though the older members may need a magnifying glass to find some of the hidden objects unless they don't mind using the hints), The game is styled in the fashion of a well made cartoon, that shouldn't put off the adult in anyone. Alice in Wonderland is one of those stories I'm sure we all had read to us as children and it brings back fond memories of my mother reading to me as a child. :) also my online name is indirectly associated with this story through the song White Rabbit sung by Grace Slick while with Jefferson Airplane.


Pros:
• Beautiful aesthetic. Stellar production values and attention to detail. Fun mahjong and hidden object -lite gameplay. Long-lasting modes, plus level editor.
Cons:
• Free tiles sometimes obscured by perspective. Hidden objects sometimes too well-hidden. Text captions miss out some of the narrative.



Scoring

Gameplay – 8
Graphics – 8
Audio – 7
Re-playability – 9
Originality – 8

Total = 8






Problems:

If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums in the game discussion section. 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). Today’s game is available free 24/7 from MyPlayCity, Jenkat Games and Gametop




If you have any problems installing or getting to work today's game please go HERE for help.

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



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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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