Restrictive timer, no thanks.
Was doing fine until I hit a level that I just couldn't get past.
Bang, bang, bang... lost 6 "lives".
Game Over.
Uninstalled, deleted.

Installed OK on Windows 7 Pro, but no mouse pointer at all with Logitech wireless mouse and wireless keyboard on my Dell. Am uninstalling – too bad because it looks like a nice gaming experience.

…………………………..Moderator comment………………………..

Before you delete try going into compatibility and changing the graphical options for this game. (right click on the executable and select properties, then click on the compatibility tab. Try changing the compatibility to say Vista or XP, disable the display scaling, check the run as Admin etc)

---------------user response--------------..

Tried all the above and nothing 'really' worked until I update the mouse & keyboard drivers from Logitech - that seems to have done the trick, so now on to try the game. Thank you for your help and for the games.


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

Glad you got it sorted. forgot to mention driver updates. these are often the culprits. Think I mention them in the FAQ's thread. :)

Hi!

I was hoping this would be offered again! It suddenly stopped working from the last giveaway. Downloaded with no problems and runs good. So far I do not see any difference between the first download and this. Will play for a bit and see.

Hope all have very Happy Holidays and a great New Year!!


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

Glad you are happy and thanks - back at you. :)

I have also downloaded the zip file when I tried to install the setup file, I got an error message saying the file was corrupt. I tried extracting using 7zip, winrar, and winzip, but none of them made a difference. I then tried restarting my computer in "safe mode with networking" > extracted the files > and then I was able to successfully install the game.


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

Thanks for the feedback Tosh. your method of extracting the files successfully will be added to the FAQ's section. :)

Another game that I've had on previous computers, but not my current ones - now installed on both, thank you. It works in both Windows 7 and 8.1. (It may be the only part of 8.1 that does work, in fact.)

Like all the Playrix games I've tried, it's bright and cheerful to look at, and easy to grasp in the early stages, although this is one that I've never managed to finish. Yet.

The only problem really is that I often feel like punching the smarmy Mr Fogg . . . which, I fear, would not be very good for the computer, so I have resisted the temptation so far.

It's good to have this one back, anyway, so thank you very much for the repeat!


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


:)

P.S. to comment above -- I've tried all three browsers and have add ons to clear everything on exit.

Hi Stephen, thank you very much for answering. All files from GOTD or GGOTD seem to download fine, with or without disabling my Kaspersky IS. My default program for unzipping is 7Zip. No matter how I try and open the file it immediately says file is corrupted and to DL again. I keep trying and getting same results -- isn't that the definition of insanity?

I have probably DL'd fifty programs from GOTD over the years and I never had this problem until I crashed and had to reinstall everything a couple of months ago. Reinstall forced me to completely update Windows. Nothing else changed -- had been using KIS and 7Zip before. Something is conflicting with the wrapper. But I have KIS and 7Zip on the old XP desktop and never have a problem with that one, just the Win 7x64 and only since reinstall.

I know this is not the proper forum but I got nowhere with the proper one, so if anybody has a clue what I could adjust and can answer me in the technical forum I would really appreciate it. I already read all the posts there and still can't figure out what happened. I am really missing out on some good stuff:(

TIA!

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

Hi Pea, at this time of the giveaway, at least 80 to 90% of the community have already visited so its less likely that someone will answer your queries.

Have you tried checking the event log? Try unpacking the file again, then immediately check the event log. If there is something causing a problem, it should be indicated in the event log.

The following link will take you to a site that details how to open and use the event viewer in win 7. there are loads of sites that will do the same:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/226084-event-viewer-open-use-windows-7-a.html

Did you delete the internet cookies associated with the gamegiveawayoftheday site? If the answer is no, try doing that. sometimes these cookies become corrupted and can cause problems.

can not install program setup will not launch


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

Hello D, check your event log to see if there are any problems reported. You are clicking on the orange colored file not the setup.gcd file? the later is a security file, to install click on the orange colored icon with the key symbol.

Re JSG http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/around-the-world-in-80-days-2013/#comment-833563
and ALF at http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/around-the-world-in-80-days-2013/#comment-835719

Alf is right, all Stephen needed to say was something like "Sorry to hear you are having issues, could you tell us what happens when you try and we'll try to help, but please take the discussion to the fora at this link ... http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/"
But all JSG needed to do in the first place was *ask* for help. Many of us would have tried to solve his issue. Many of us do these things professionally, for a living, and some of us are damned good. Morals: before giving up, ask for help, the Moderator should be the most politest one of all and I should butt out.

This is a good game. Thank you for it.


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

Thank you for your comments on JSG. I try to be polite and usually am. :)

One of the best of its kind esp for those who haven't run through it once. To be honest not a replayer for me. Thanks GOTD for offering one to excite new users who like this style.

Very enjoyable game that I find myself replaying from time to time. Definately worth the download. Thank you all!

This is still my favorite game of all the ones I have downloaded over the years. I see no difference between this and the first one I downloaded many years ago. I just downloaded it (3rd time I think) so I could have a copy on my external HD. I do agree that a relaxed mode would be nice but I have now played this so many times it doesn't matter.

Once you beat this try it again. On your second journey there is not debris that falls and gets in your way. It can not be matched and must be blown up to get rid of it. I actually ended up finding this such an annoyance in the higher levels that I just kept making new user names to avoid it.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to WR and the GGAOTD team. I will now be away and in 'no-internet-land' for a while so I hope that next weeks offerings aren't something I have been eagerly awaiting.


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

Thank you for your feedback Lonni, have a brilliant festive season. I hope you get a pleasant surprise for Christmas. :)

GOTD,

I downloaded twice, but I get an error:
CRC failed in Setup.gcd. The file is corrupt.

Basheer


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

Have you checked the FAQ's section over in the game discussion forums. sorry, I usually mention this, but have neglected to recently. Try using a different archiver such as 7 Zip or J Zip to unpack the zipped file. I've had this problem myself and found using a different archiver sorted the problem.

If this doesn't work clear out your internet cache and try unpacking the zip file again. (deleting the cache will get rid of all of your cookies, so if you want to keep most just delete those files associated with the giveaway site).

You could also try Dave Johnson's suggestion (see a few comments above).

Installed OK on Windows 7 Pro, but no mouse pointer at all with Logitech wireless mouse and wireless keyboard on my Dell. Am uninstalling - too bad because it looks like a nice gaming experience.


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


Before you delete try going into compatibility and changing the graphical options for this game. (right click on the executable and select properties, then click on the compatibility tab. Try changing the compatibility to say Vista or XP, disable the display scaling, check the run as Admin etc)

Installed, registered, and runs fine in Vista. Playrix never disappoints; I must have a dozen various match-3 games but all are just different enough to not be repetitive. Thanks.

I'd just like to mention. You don't have to use an unzipper to install these games. Just open (double click) the zipped folder, drag all three files onto the desktop, install from there. After installing, just delete the three files from the desktop.


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

Thanks for your suggestion Dave. :)

Festive Greetings to all!!

I played this marvelous game (on another computer) a while back when I was new to gaming, and really enjoyed it. I was able to finish the game and return to England for the end of the story, which BTW is one of the reasons the game appeals to me so much (for some reason, there are many classic books which I have never read, so getting their stories through other media is a benefit). Another attraction is the gorgeous scenery/artwork. I absolutely give this an enthusiastic thumbs up, and appreciate the opportunity to download it again, thanks to Playrix, GGOTD and especially Stephen!

Joyous and Enchanting Holidays to All!!

Cara


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

Thank you Cara. :)

I enjoyed this game before and was able to complete it. I don't remember being frustrated with anything about it, but perhaps I forgot and I don't have any children playing it. I also lost it when I had major computer programs and I'm pleased to have it back again on both of my computers. The story is cute and it was so fun to play a game that reminded me of a wonderful movie from my childhood.


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

:)

If you're like me you have several "go to" games that you play when you need some downtime. This is one of my go to games. I've played this for years, over and over and over again. The challenge I give myself these days is to finish with more lives left than my absolute best of 8. I don't usually meet that goal, but it's fun trying. A tip I'd like to offer is to go for the pots of gold and extra lives within the game board before dropping off the last piece of the artifact, because once that's down, the board is done and you'll lose those extra points that lead to another life. Have fun with this, I do, and now that my daughter has replaced her computer, she'll be thrilled to find this is available today because she plays it often, too.



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

:)

As regulars here will know, I'm not a match-3 aficionado (LOL!) but my wife is.

Just really posting this to wish compliments of the season to Stephen and his family, to everyone responsible for bringing GOTD and GGOTD to our browsers, and of course, to all fellow grateful GOTD and GGOTD users!

Have a good one, people. :)



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

Thank you Cad, hope you have a very pleasant festive season. :)

Got this during the last giveaway and cleared all screens except the last one - just like Deb (@20). I don't love the idea of bypassing a level - if you can't complete every level, you shouldn't be able to complete the game. It's like graduating from college without graduating from high school. The gameplay isn't really that different from the Atlantis series. And if it doesn't end either (you repeat your journey over and over, as can be inferred from some comments), I don't regret not completing it.

I don't remember the original plot (it's been, uhm, twenty something years since I read it as a kid), but I was so sure he succeded in the book, that I actually started wondering if there was anything wrong with the game when he lost his bet.



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

Thank you for your feedback :)

THANK YOU for giving us this game! I've played the trial version a loved it. Now I can play it all the way thru.

I've had this on my desktop for ages and would really love to put it on Win7x64 laptop, but ever since a Windows update a couple of months ago nothing from GOTD or GGOTD will work. All I get is file corrupted messages. I posted on the main forum but nobody answered. I've tried disabling this and that but nothing is working. May be .net framework? Can anybody help?

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


Hi Pea, its unusual that no one answers over in the forums. Personally I've not been as active as I usually am due to lots of extra stuff happening in my life right now otherwise I'm sure i would have responded.


with respect to .net framework. not all games require this and i know that some community members have said they wouldn't install if .net framework was required. Usually it would say if it was required.

Are you getting the corrupt messages when trying to unzip the file, or are you not able to download at all. If the latter try clearing your internet cache. It could be that the giveaway cookie stored there has become corrupted. This will cause error messages to appear. If it 's the former, try using a different file archiver to unzip the zipped file.

Great game! Installed on Win 7 Professional.

#3 JSG and comment "Stephen":

Stephen, I do respect your work very much, making it possible for many to enjoy the provided games. You address problems, provide help in the comments and make excellent descriptions of the games.

But something slipped in I just cannot agree with. I feel the urge to address this, it really has to be said.

Installation problems due to the wrapper is a common thing to happen, not only the odd person having problems. But is also true that many have no problems at all.

I can only urge people to maintain a high security standard. Malware infections are very unpleasant for everyone.

It is due to the choice of the wrapper inner works that security software can go into a screeming alert. This choice was made by the GOTD-team, knowing of this problem.

I feel it's inapt to tell JSG, who is suffering this kind of problems, that he is the cause and not the wrapper chosen by GOTD.

I also insist in recommending tuning down one's security to being able to install the game is very inappropriate.

I've installed expensive security software because I want to be able to put my trust in it. I'm an experienced user and I accept being the loophole for infections myself even with excellent security software in place. I simply have to be alert not to act stupid or to take too great a risk wile working with my computer to avoid infection.

I know you tell us GOTD never has distributed any malware because they are careful, followed by not trusting your security software, turn it off, and do trust GOTD while doing so. I'm sure GOTD is to be trusted, but I simply do not want to expand my trust to every softwaremaker telling me the same just because they use something that makes my security software go bananas. And I also don't want to make exceptions.

GOTD can do what they want, but really they ought to distribute the giveaways in such a manner that people with high security standards are not victimized because they have their computer setup in a security minded way.

Firstly, everbody addressing the wrapper was pointed out to discuss it in the forums (I can understand that). People might do or do not so, but once people do not discuss it here anymore, you start misleading (sorry) people by telling them they are to blame themselves when they have a problem with the wrapper.

Why not tell them that the problems are probably due to the wrapper but you can work around it at your own risk by tuning down the security software. Tell them this is not recommended to uphold high security standards but they might choose so if they think it is okay. The decision to be made might be helped by knowing GOTD is very careful and has not delivered any malware before, but results from the past do not guarantee anything in the future.

This makes them not the cause of the problem and because you don't tell them what to think, they can decide for them self, trusting their own reasoning. I feel this would be more fair and appropriate.

I don't know if you are to allow this text, but I think it's honest and well meant and should be allowed I think. Either you pass this comment, but when not I know you will have read it (and hope you will think about this). I hope everybody will be able to read a different opinion like this one is though. Most discussions have two sides.

I wish you, your family, all of the GOTD-team and all of it's visitors a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year (o.. and the wisdom to steer free from malware infections of course) :)


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


As always your feedback is exemplary and I appreciate your feedback on this issue. As I've never had a problem downloading anything from the giveaway site (possibly because I regularly format my discs and then reinstall windows)

Unfortunately the giveaway team were forced to include the security software partly because of the plethora of You Tube videos telling people how to break into the wrapper and get re installable games that were then being put up on peer to peer sites. I contacted You tube about this but nothing was ever done about it. As this became more common, fewer developers were willing to give games away, so the giveaway team were forced to take drastic measures. I do remember a lot of people saying they had problems installing giveaways when the security first appeared last year.. Most of these stopped when it was suggested that security software was the most likely culprit and it was suggested that temporarily turning off your security would solve the situation, which it appeared worked for most people.

Indirectly you could say it was a section of the community who caused this because of the number of giveaways appearing on peer to peer sites once the old wrapper had been cracked.

I think JSG's reaction i.e. in saying he was going to tell people not to download from this site was very shortsighted and unfair. With respect to saying it was his fault what I actually said was that it wasn't the fault of the giveaway team and that it was more than likely the way he had his computer set up; suggesting his security software as an example of why it may not be installing.






That said, what you suggested is certainly a better way of addressing this issue and I will change the wording from this point onwards.

Thank you for taking the time to point this out.

W.R.

Really boring game ad the annoying muzak style music does not turn 0ff. What a yawner.



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


You can turn the music off via the options menu

This is one of my all time favorite match 3 games of all times. My wife and I enjoyed playing it together competing with each other for points and times on the levels. I hate to admit this but I like this game so much I have completed all levels 27 times. (The opening screen keep track of this for you.)



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


Thanks for your feedback :) Never realized that it kept a record of the times you played through. Always lose this before I complete it.

Downloaded/installed/activated with no problems on my Win7x64 machine. Haven't played it as of yet, many things to do today. Did open it and entered my player name though. Its a Playrix game so you're assured of a playable game with outstanding graphics. Not a shill for the company but Platrix,along with Alawar, have won me over as far as games are concerned.This is an older game as evidenced by the "requirements", but I have no doubt that its going to be fun. Well, as fun as a match 3 game can be I guess, not my favorite game genre I'm afraid. I do play them on occasion and always have 2 or 3 on my machine though. By reading the other comments I'm surprised by the lack of a relaxed mode, which I agree should be an option on all games of this type.


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


Thanks for your feedback :)

Reason I ask is today's giveaway updated is the title here says "Premium" and the previous giveaways didn't?


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

It's the same size as the previous version. also previous giveaways that have then had the title Premium added have still been the same versions as the previous giveaways. All I can say is - if there is any doubt over whether there is anything updated, download and install it. :)

Merry Christmas

:D

Is this the same version as given away a few years ago? I don't remember it being premium. If version is different, will it update and keep my place in the game?


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

See my answers to Avid Gamer (both above and below) :)

Great game. The last scene is impossible to solve. I have tried a zillion times and I cannot solve it. You should be able to bypass something you cannot solve.
Deb

Anyone who doesn't have this----don't hesitate. It is my all time favorite game.
thanks again

When I tried to install it, I got the message that the giveaway period was over. Any suggestions?

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

Hmmm, the only things I can think off are either the date on your computers clock is wrong or the giveaway sites cookie is corrupted. Check the date. If it's correct try clearing your internet cache of the giveaway cookies then try to download.

Thank You GAOTD for this Wonderful Game, and to Mr. White Rabbit's explanation of said game.
May you and Your Family have a Blessed and Holy Christmas Mr. White Rabbit!!


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

Thanks and you too :)

Install went perfectly smooth on Win7. Great looking game and fun. Thanks GAotD and Playrix.

@Stephen (and other Game GOTD users):
Good morning!
Can anyone tell if this release is an updated version of the game or the same version that's been released before?


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

I doubt it's a new version, though can't really say as I don't have the previous giveaway any longer to compare it with. That said, I did say that the installed version on the previous occasion this was given away was 72MB in size. today's version is also 72MB (though on disc it's 83.3MB), so I would presume it is the same version., It's rare that these old games are updated later in their life.

Great game! But as I have mentioned several times in posts on this site, playing this game I reached ONE level that I absolutely could NOT clear within the time limit. I tried and Tried and TRIED Again! In fact I probably tried five or six times before I said "FORGET THIS!" and gave up. I Deleted the GAME from my laptop to free up that ALL SO VALUABLE disk space. I'm not inclined to download it again, although, I might change my mind before the end of the day.

RELAXED play, all you game making dudes, SHOULD BE included with EVERY SINGLE game EVER made.

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

I agree with you on the relaxed mode. Would please a lot more people if this was included.

@3:
It did'nt work at my computer too. But now I use FreeCommander for unzipping all games and other software of GAOTD, and it works fine here.

You can download it here: http://www.freecommander.com/

Happy Xmas and a good 2014.

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


Thanks Ma_gma :)

I had this game before but lost it when my laptop died. Got a new laptop and it has installed and plays fine on Windows 8, hope this is of help to other with Windows 8

I did not download this game , because i have it already .. i love to play it It's great fun and my kids love to play too , so well worth the download guys/girls .. only one thing and this is funny . .. I did send an email saying the exact same thing as the first idea rankings .. it needs a relax mode no time.. but still a 10/10 from me


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

Thanks Danny :)

Thanks for this game, lost it when I had to change laptops ;)
Together with Brickshooter Egypt this is my all-time favourite.

I can replay this game regularly without getting bored.
Other than Whiterabbit, I don't like the storylines, so it's great that you can skip this. It's one of the advantages of this game.

The only (very) minor point is the end of the game, there's a lot of conversation where tou have to click every time you play the game plus the fireworks and 'romantic' text. This gets annoying especially when you play the game several times.
Although the game gets pleasantly harder when you play it for the 2nd or 3rd time.

For me a 9 out of 10 and a must-have :)


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

Thank you for your feedback Irene. Have a great festive season. :)

I had this one long time ago. Thanks to The Team.
My mom plays it all the time. I also create backup files for her to exchange the settings when she wants to play a specified day.
Only one small thing. Does anyone know all the parameters? I know how to change days and rounds, but no others. For example, sometimes the timer freeze to let you play as long as you need to finish the day.


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


Hopefully someone will be able to help. Just check back later today.

Ooops, the answer to my question was written

Game works fine on Windows 8
Installed without any problems, only needed to change the destination to my map Games.
It is fun playing with touchscreen, works faster and reacts great.

Thanks for the third time (two previous installations in the past)



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


:)

It´s nearly the same as "The rise of Atlantis" with other background. I think we have enough of "3 in 1-row-games". Is this the only theme by Playrix? Games are not bad (graphic and sound are good) but always the same task...stuffy.

so pleased to see this download. It's my fav. Computer got lightning strike the other night and game wouldn't work properly. Thank you.

Around the World in 80 days was one of my favorite games. Thanks for bringing it back again! :)

Hello Whiterrabbit,

Just got a brand new laptop with touchscreen, currious how it works with this game, however is the game also suitable for Windows 8.
The requirment read - Windows 98/ ME/ 2000/ XP/ Vista
I try to avoid installing programs what are not running ;)

Regards, and also the best wishes to all
Wijnand



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

Works perfectly on my Win 8.1 computer. Thanks, have a great festive season. :)

Stupid GOTD installer still fails to work. Ever since the change to the new installer, I can't install any offers and I really want to install this. Guess its time to avoid this site and tell others to do the same.


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


There are thousands of community members downloading from this site, with only the odd person having problems. It's unfortunate, but that's not the fault of the giveawayoftheday site. It's most likely the way you have your computer set up, (maybe your security software is stopping it). Why stop others from enjoying free software, just because you are having problems?

I've had this game for quite a while and it is a very nice game. Looking for a good one that I don't already have tomorrow.
Hope you all have a wonderfully Merry Christmas and get everything you desire. Thank you GGOTD and Whiterabbit. Looking forward to a great new year.

Around the World in 80 Days:

Installation:




The download is quite large for an arcade game at 60.3 MB (though it’s miniscule compared to many DVD based games that are available now), a large proportion of the download is made up of the screensaver that is included with the game. In fact there are several screensavers that are unlocked as you travel around the world, each screensaver depicting a scene from that particular area of the world. The first two screensavers are London then Paris and then in no particular order Egypt, India, China, Japan and finally the USA.

The zip file 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, but it will be a false positive.

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

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







To register and install the game, click on the orange colored icon. The installed game requires approx 72MB of disk space and installs to the following path:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Around the World in 80 Days (64 bit)

C:\Program Files\Playrix Entertainment\Around the World in 80 Days (32 bit)

(If the install path shows the last game giveaway installed you need to clear your internet cache) you’ll also find a shortcut in the Start Menu for an uninstaller.

A shortcut for the game, an uninstaller and to the Playrix web site are installed to the Start Menu/Programs folder together with a game shortcut and website shortcut to the desktop

The game works on Win 8.1, Win 7, Vista and XP Pro.







Introduction:

This was originally given away on the 7th September 2008 where it received a 81% positive vote out of exactly 998 votes with 167 comments; and then again April 25th 2009 when it received a 70% positive vote out of 994 votes with 87 comments; then it was given away November 2010 where it received a 79 % positive votes out of a total of 452, with 35 comments . Finally, it was given away last year on August 5th 2012 where it received an excellent positive vote of 87% out of 531 votes with 63 comments. You can read all the previous comments from all of the times it was given away, most of which were positive by clicking on the dates above.

You only have 80 days to circumnavigate the globe. Think that sounds easy? Travel back in time to the late 19th century and get ready for spectacular adventures on land, sea and air together with the English daredevil Phileas Fogg and his loyal French servant Passepourtout. Use the unique chance to visit four continents and complete the inconceivable journey to win the fantastic 20,000 pounds wager with this outstanding puzzler inspired by the classic adventure novel of the same name written by Jules Verne.

Reference accessed HERE on the 20th Nov 2010




The Game:

Most community members will be fully aware of what’s involved and how to play a match three or more game, so I’m not going to go into great detail about the mechanics of this game. (some will say hooray here :lol: There is an in game help link in the main menu that tells you the basics of the game pictorially. You basically travel to several locations around the world collecting objects and a stamp from each place you visit. There's a lot of dialogue at the beginning of the game that continues in a slightly attenuated state throughout the game. All dialogue can be skipped if you wish, though personally I like the story line. There's also an abridged version of Jules Vernes 'Around the world in 80 Days' that you can read as you progress through the game. Specific parts of the book become available to read when you reach that part of the world you are visiting.

Apparently (I’ve read somewhere) this is another upgrade of The Rise of Atlantis, from the developer Playrix which is another game that we have been given previously via the giveaway project. After playing several levels, I do agree that the game is very similar, and that it does have some improvements over its predecessor; though you’ll need to play both to be able to see the differences (apart from the obvious graphical differences). You can get both games (Around the world in 80 Days and The Rise of Atlantis) for free 24/7 from Jenkat Games, Gametop and MyPlayCity though i've only linked to Jenkat a s its the leasrt invasive . The difference with today’s game and the free sites I mention above is that you won’t get the annoying browser opening at the end of the game, nor will you be plagued with pop ups (mainly Gametop) or toolbar installations and home page changes. There is now another sequel to the The Rise of Atlantis called Call of Atlantis; which is again very similar, but with some improvements.




I much prefer the way this games storyline unfolds, to the Atlantis games. It sticks to the original story by Jules Verne apart from the American leg of the journey which isn’t true to the original story. The graphics are gorgeous and the music okay. It’s classical in nature and works well with the overall feel of the game. I think the majority are going to be pleased with this game despite it being a match three. (check out the list of free match three games at the end of the review)

You can access the options menu as well as the help menu and high scores from the games main menu. The options menu enables you to adjust the music as well as toggle between full screen and windowed mode. There’s also a toggle to switch between your default mouse pointer and a custom pointer and another to turn on or off the in game tips.

The game is , with only the keyboard required to input your profile name.

The game play follows closely that ofThe Rise of Atlantis, including having to move broken artefacts to the bottom of the playing field (for most of the game, in the end levels you have to get them to move sideways), which then go to make an artefact, in the case of Around the world in 80 Days to complete the level; though the storyline (as is obvious from the title of the game) is based around Jules Verne’s story as opposed to Atlantis.

You earn power ups by creating matches of four or more. You can see what power ups are available from the help menu, and include (amongst others) bombs, extra lives, extra time and bonus points. Some of the power ups are upgradeable as well. The first one to become available when you’ve created enough matches of four or more is the hammer which you can use to knock out either one tile, unlock a lock or unfreeze a tile. As you create more matches this is upgraded to a super hammer which destroys all tiles of the same color; further upgrades include a bomb and a super bomb. This ability to upgrade power ups reminds me of Treasures of Montezuma and Sky Bubbles Deluxe, both of which are excellent Match three games in their own right, and more recently a game called Alchemist's Apprentice, which I’m playing at the moment (and incidentally am really enjoying. There are also bonus levels at the end of each country, where you have to uncover a stamp by clearing away the Golden tiles (which is supposed to be proof that Fogg has visited that particular country). The golden tiles are removed by creating a match 3 or more over the gold tiles. An additional bonus with this game is the free screensaver, which is the very same screensaver that was given away back in June 08 called Around the World: London. There are another six to unlock, which if you're into screen savers and match three games makes this a very worthwhile purchase ( that is, if you had to purchase it. Thankfully even if you miss today's game giveaway, there's no need to be upset because you can get the game free 24/7 from (Jenkat Games, Gametop or MyPlayCity, or, if you don't want to download the game you can play it for free online HERE or HERE

I like the Around the World screensavers that Astro Gemini sell for around $20 each, so this game is a real bargain to those who love screensavers because technically you’d be paying over $100 just for the screensavers if you were to purchase them seperately plus the cost of the game. Though in reality, you can actually purchase Astro Gemini’s whole stock of screensavers for the price of five or six screensavers, and get the game for free from the gamehouses mentioned above.


Features:

• Adventure game with outstanding storyline, beautiful animation and challenging puzzles

• Extremely addictive gameplay with 81+ levels

• High-quality colourful graphics and soundtrack

• Bonus animated screensaver

• Marvellous adaptation of the Jules Verne Victorian travelogue

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Videos & Images:


The first link covers the introductory story and the initial dialogue between Phileas Fogg and his valet Passepourtout as well as the first level of the game, though because I had problems capturing any video using the commercial version, I used the online version which does have a couple of slight differences to the menu buttons compared to the downloadable version. You can even get this game for Nintendos DS. The second link takes you to Big Fish Games (BFG). Both these video’s are worth watching. You’ll need to click on the video button once you’ve been taken to BFG’s web pages. The third video, posted on You Tube is very poor quality, but still conveys a reasonable impression of the game. There’s also 2 slideshows, the first showing 50 screen captures of the early stages of the dialogue and log book, as well as the initial stages of the game and a second slideshow showing random images of the game and screensavers.

Watch a video of ‘Around the World in 80 Day’s’ HERE






Watch Big Fish Games video of ‘Around the World in 80 Day’s HERE



Watch more video of ‘Around the World in 80 Day’s’ HERE



Images:


You can see a slide show of screencaptures of Around the world in 80 Days HERE and HERE

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Other reviews worth reading:





Full review of ‘Around the World in 80 Day’s’ from Gamezebo


Full review of ‘Around the World in 80 Day’s’ from Gamemile


Community reviews from Gamezebo

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Minimum System Specifications:

• O.S. - Win 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista
• Cpu – 500MHz
• RAM – 128MB
• Video RAM – 32Mb
• Graphics - DirectX 8 or higher

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Conclusion:

Despite a plethora of match three puzzles that abound these days, this is definitely one of the better ones (IMO). It’s got all the ingredients to make it a pleasure to play, including the storyline, which doesn’t interfere with game play because you can easily click on a button to pass it by quickly. I’m not really a big fan of match three puzzles, (apart from Treasures of Montezuma, Four Elements, The Rise of Atlantis Sky Bubbles Deluxe and more recently Alchemist's Apprentice), plus a few others, but I do think Around the world in 80 Days, is one of those you’ll find hard to put down once you’ve started to play, plus it’s a great all-round family arcade game. So I think it’s worth a good 8 out of 10 despite it not being an original idea. The latter levels are very hard, especially the last ones where you have to move objects sideways rather than downwards. I would have preferred the power ups to be cumulative from level to level, but instead, you have to recharge them each time you start a new level.

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Resources and other stuff:


Free ‘commercial quality’ Games:

Also if you like this genre there’s two or three games similar to Around the world in 80 Days plus a growing number (nearly 50) of other match three types available for free from MyPlayCity, Gametop and FreeGamePick sites.

As always I should remind you that games from these sites do open up your browser when you close the game down, though it isn’t redirected. You just have to click on the x to close it down. I’ve checked all the games these sites at various times originally with with F-Secure and PCGuard back in 2008 and more recently Kaspersky Internet Security and have found no malware attached to any of the files I've linked to.

Do also be aware that if you don't uncheck the check boxes during installation and, in the case of MPC games every time you boot the game up, you may get toolbars, home page changes and/or brwser changes. These can be reversed, but are an annoyance. Thankfully, they haven't employed in game advertising yet..

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Changing in-game music:

All the music is in the ogg format, so you will need to convert any music you wish to use into that format before exchanging the files found in the following folder. You can download free audio converters from the WWW; just Google Free audio Converters. You must rename any track you change to the one you’re exchanging. I’d keep a back up of the ones you are removing just in case there are any problems.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Around the World in 80 Days\Base\Sound\Music
(Win 7 & Vista)

C:\Program Files\Playrix Entertainment\Around the World in 80 Days\Base\Sound\Music
(XP)

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Issues & Fixes:


Fixes:

Previously some community members couldn’t get this game to work. The following 'fixes' or ‘suggestions’ may help to resolve the issue.

• There are animations included that may require newer graphics drivers so I would suggest you update these and also your DX version. If you’re not sure how to do this please post your query in the forums and I will answer it ASAP.

• Try defragmenting your drive (especially if you’ve never done it before (or rarely), because a badly defragmented drive can cause programs to crash.

• Set your screen resolution to a lower value.

• Try turning off unnecessary background programs.

• Download a fresh copy from the mirror link

• Uninstall the game then download a fresh copy from the mirror link then Reinstall

• Uncheck the box that automatically starts the game when you close the installation wizard and start the game once it’s activated by the games shortcut.

• When I was reviewing the game, whenever I started up my video capture suite, the game would freeze about the 20% load mark. I’m wondering whether it crashes when certain programs are running? If you get this problem (some community members did mention a freeze at about 20% loading last time this game was given away), try exiting some of your background programs. Go to the bottom right tool bar (next to the clock) and right click on the icons situated there. Most are usually not necessary so you can exit them. Also try going into your task manager and stopping some of the non essential services. Generally leave any system process running. I’d shut one down at a time and see if it’s that that’s causing the problem. Make a note of what you shut down so that if your system freezes you’ll know not to shut it down when you try again. Unfortunately if your system does freeze, you’ll have to restart your computer.

• If you get an access violation error it’s related to the above issue. Try turning off various programs to see if it fixes the problem. Access Violation problems are generally a result of improper memory usage by the computer through different computer applications. This can actually be compared to the locking of a gate. Files become inaccessible and can not be opened without the fixing up of the access violation error. Access Violation Error is essentially very common with software malfunction which again usually happens due to poorly written software. It can also be a result of damaged registry. Using a decent registry cleaner may fix the problem.

• :idea: Caulbox posted the following fix the last time this was given away and may just solve any problems that some community members may get:

Quote:

for those who are encountering problems with game crashes or freezes during loading:

Although the game runs without problems on my system, if I look at the “log.htm” file, which gets generated afresh in the games “Base” directory every time the game is started (that’s a directory called “Base” not the root)….I do notice that there’s always an error reported when I run the game. The error report reads, “ERROR : Can’t load KeyMap.xml!”. Not surprising really, cos there is no file of that name included with the game installation.

However, there is a file (again in the “Base” directory) which is called “KeysMapping.xml”. If I rename (a copy of) that file so that it’s called “KeyMap.xml” the error reporting disappears from subsequent log files.

Although this isn’t really necessary for me, as the game is running fine as it is…I wonder if the reported error behaviour, might in any way be connected with the freezes that others are encountering during loading of the game? As I say, just a wild stab in the dark…but, if all else is failing, it might be worth renaming ‘KeysMapping.xml’ to ‘KeyMap.xml’ and see if it cures the crashes. (I’d advise renaming a copy of the file, keeping the original safely intact and in place).

Comment #77 by Caulbox


• If you have any other issues please go to the Game Discussion forums where you'll fiond a FAQ's in the stickies section HERE.

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Issues:

One issue that some may not like with the screensavers that comes packaged with this game…… When it asks if you want to activate your screensaver it will automatically change your present screensaver to the Around the World set. If you choose not to activate them the screensaver is set to None for some reason even though you may have previously had a different screensaver selected.

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While searching for a You Tube video of the game (so as to save me some time preparing one myself I came across an interesting Google Earth video called Around the World in 8 minutes :lol: (though it’s actually 8 minutes 58 sec). It’s nothing to do with the game, but as it’s sort of very loosely related, I thought I’d post it with the review :lol:

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Lots of game son sale this week. Check out all of the usual sites. Steam started their sale on Thursday. IbndieGameStand have anew gane every day at the moment and there are loads of indie game bundles worth checking out. you can find details of most deals over in the game discussion forums.

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Will see you again before the year is out. :) Stand by for what promises to be an excellent game tomorrow