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I'm retiring for the night. Will continue to moderate in the morning.

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We have two games coming up tomorrow, the first an MPC game is almost half a gigabyte in size and over three quarters of a gigabyte when installed) , so, if you have a slow connection, be sure to start downloading early to avoid disappointment. The second game is a limited key giveaway of 100 keys. I think some community members are going to be very pleased to see this particular game, which I've already purchased because it is one of my favorite arcade game genres and so far I've really enjoyed playing it. It was only released just over a month ago and has garnered mostly positive comments and reviews from the community (116 positive reviews out of 144 and most of the negative ones are about a certain trivial aspect of the game that I think is absolutely fine or are about how the game is totally different from it's predecessors, that fact of the matter is the developer has made a game using a similar name to other games they created from a different genre, though somewhat related; still, you can't please everyone.)

Regarding the free Steam keys I'm giving away. I am unable to access my forum account at this time, so, if I've posted that you've won a key please comment here. I will delete the comment once I've sent out your choice of game. Please ensure you use a valid email when signing in to comment otherwise you won't receive the key. Thank you.

Please only post comments about today's game giveaway Arxon; other comments either not appropriate, or not about today's game will be deleted at the moderator or administrators discretion; however a little light banter among community members and with the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit is acceptable and welcomed. All comments not specifically about today's game giveaway will be judged by the moderator and if deemed not appropriate, will be deleted with no explanation. Please see the end of this review for further details about posting comments and links to the teams contact, moderation policy and the FAQ's thread, thank you

In Brief

An Egyptian-themed match three puzzler. Originally given away before the game giveaway side of the project was created back in Nov 2006 when the main site used to give around 3 games a week away. you can see the community comments HERE. I just missed getting that game, joining the community a few days later. It was again given away the following Nov 2007. You can see the community comments and my first review of this game (comment #8) HERE

Whether you like or dislike Arxon please give some feedback about your opinion of todays game giveaway, for example, what you liked or disliked about the game, and how it could be improved from your point of view. If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What improvements would change your opinion? There are thousands of subscribers to the game giveaway of the day every weekend which makes this an ideal forum for giving developers ideas as to what their consumers (i.e you) would like to see in a game. For example, you could suggest extra content such as better or more original mini games, or a level editor that you would like to see that would make it more appealing to you. Maybe you think the graphics are a little dated and are in need of re skinning, or maybe you've just had enough of the genre and want to see something different or something with more originality? Giving such feedback instead of saying nothing or just saying this game is rubbish or good may bring more developers to the site, which could mean more and better games. Would you give away thousands of copies of a game (or extra content for a game) away to a community that complains all the time instead of giving useful feedback? It only takes a few moments of your time. This site could be transformed if only the community would be more forthcoming in their opinions of the games they are getting for free instead of complaining about the way this site has changed or that they don't like Steam games. If something isn't for you then move on to the next giveaway, or check out the extra's section at the end of this review; you never know, you may find something that interests you..

If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE.

Arxon downloads to a 21.5 MB zip file that unzips to three files, (a setup.gcd security wrapper, the set up file and a read me). Those with multiple hard drives are able to save games on any drive they wish. The newly installed game is 24.7 MB in size. The game installs to the following path by default, but can be changed by the user if you prefer:

C:\Program Files (x86)\MyPlayCity.com\Arxon

Four shortcuts are installed to the desktop. three of which can be safely deleted (Play Online Games, MyPlayCity Games and shortcuts to a free online game which vary each week). Also, if you don't like icons installed to the quick launch task bar, make sure you uncheck the box when the additional tasks window appears (after the Select Start Menu Folder window)

Use your matching and logic skills in this beautiful, Egyptian-themed puzzler, released over 10 years ago. Move colored scarabs around the grid, lining up three or more same-colored beetles as you try to clear them from the board. With three gameplay modes and fun bonuses, like the Destroyer Bug, Arxon is the perfect diversion!

Edited reference accessed HERE. Feb 18th 2017

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting Arxon to work please visit the problems section, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

1) ... 3 gameplay modes (Adventure, Endless Or Logic Modes)

2) ... Useful power-ups

3) ... Relaxing Egyptian theme

Despites it's age, i.e. over a decade old, this still looks fantastic. The colors are vibrant and definitely remind me of my visit to Egypt several years ago. The options menu allows you to change the game from the default full screen to windowed mode. You can turn off the tutorial from the options menu as well as adjust the usual sound and music volumes. If you are finding it difficult to choose the correct move there is an hint button and if you make the wrong move you can undo the move and try again.

Arxon is an Egyptian themed game of logic where you match colored scarab beetles to form three or more matches in adjacent squares (vertical or horizontal lines, squares of 4 and L shaped matches). To match the scarabs you move a scarab that is located on the perimeter of the grid to where you want the scarabs on the gid to move (along the bottom or top to move vertically and along the sides to move horizontally). Once located in the correct position clicking the scarab will move it onto the board and push the line of either vertical column or horizontal row of scarabs one square along. There are three game modes:

1) ... Adventure Mode - 63 levels - where you create matches of 3 or more scarabs. This is a timed mode.

2) ... Endless Mode - 80 levels - the same game mechanics as Adventure mode but it's not timed.

3) ... Logic Mode - 10 levels - you have to move the beetles to create a pattern on the board. By creating combos, power-ups become available in the forms of bugs. The whole game has been designed in an Egyptian theme.

You can create power ups by making combos of scarab matches, for example the Destroyer Bug, which removes all of the scarabs on the grid with the same color as the one you hit! Other power ups remove all the scarabs surrounding the one you chose.

You can also see my first review of this game from when it was given away back in 2007 HERE, see comment #8

Review written by Whiterabbit-uk Feb 18th 2017

You can see community reviews of Arxon (which I found to be very sparse considering the age of this game) HERE and more information in the Big Fish forums HERE.

As with the community reviews and considering this game was released in 2006 I could only find a few videos of game play. The first one may be introduced with an advert first. the second one is on Big Fish's game page for Arxon. You can skip the advert after a few seconds and with the Big fish video, you may be asked to select a video player before you can see the video. You can see the Arxon game play HERE, HERE and HERE.

A match three game with a different way of creating matches. The addition of a logic mode adds a little extra to this game. A nice challenging match three game with decent colorful graphics. A good game that I'd give 7 out of 10 for game play and all round family entertainment.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away Arxon and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games, in this case Steam keys.

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

The problems section that used to be posted here in the Game review is now included in the Game Discussion FAQ's thread; which you can find HERE.

I've updated the games section that used to be posted with the review. The thread is now called 'Weekly round up of game deals', formerly the games section of the weekly reviews. You can find the new thread (which I've posted in the sticky section of the game discussion forums to make it easier to find if you are perusing the game discussion forums) HERE.

If today's game giveaway, 'Arxon' didn't appeal, you may find other games either free or for less than the price of a cup of coffee via the 'Weekly Roundup of Game Deals' thread which I've posted a link to above, or HERE.

The free game over on Origin is still the excellent atmospheric Sci Fi RPG third person Shooter Mass Effect 2, but it will probably be ending soon. If you've still not got a copy, get it now, it's well worth. It usually costs £19.99/$19.99 (though I paid the pre-order price of over £30 prior to it's release back in January 2010) . You can get it HERE. Please note that you do require the Origin game platform to be able to download and install the game.

You will also find lots of deals over on Green Man Gaming and Big Fish Games usually have 70% off the first game you buy from them, plus they also have other deals occasionally. Desura was purchased from Bad Ju Ju games last year by One Play. If you already have a Desura account you can read details of what is happening HERE. As yet you can't access games you previously purchased via Desura (I have around 1400), but One Play are working to recover everyone's accounts and hope to do so by the end of March 2017. Indie Royale will also resume on a weekly basis, though at this time I don't know if previous Inde Royale Greenlight bundles will be honoured? Alawar, Gamehouse and Playrix entertainment have free games available (usually online versions) and other game houses such as the AAA distributors Ubisoft and Origin always have some games on sale. I've updated the Weekly roundup of game deals HERE to include a large list of other sites where you can find games on sale ( eg Origin, uPlay, GreenManGaming etc, as well as links to free online games as well as other game houses such as Alawar, Playrix and Gamehouse plus gaming news sites such as Rock Paper Shotgun and Game Seek, and included a list of free to play Massive Multiplayer games such as World of Tanks, world of warships, Liberators and Allegiance to name a few. For more details please go to the Weekly roundup of game deals over in the game discussion sticky section HERE.

There are 1430 games on sale over on Steam at the moment, with up to 91% off. Game prices range from as little as £0.15p (Clones, Squirbs, 24 hours, The Chosen RPG, Defy Gravity Extended, Gun Rocket, Waveform, Morphopolis, Camera Obscura, Battle Ranch: Pig vs Plants, Biodrone Battle, Marble Mayhem: Fragile Ball, Detour, GooCublets: OCD, Revolution Ave, Why So Evil 2: Dystopia, Klabi, The First Spark, Caster, Torch Cave 1 & 2, all for less than £0.25p/$0/50 (most of these cheap games are actually cheaper in the UK than the US, so if you are a US citizen and have a UK friend, get them to buy the game for you. There are almost 300 games and dlc less than $1 and over 300 for less than £1. You can find all of the deals HERE.

If you spend more than $3 in the Indie Gala store you'll also get a free copy of the old school anime rpg '200% Mixed Juice' worth $6.99/£4.99. There's also a NIS America publishers sale on with up to 90% off games, for example Cladun x2, Clan of Champions including dlc (90%), Disgaea 1 and 2, Yomawari: Night Alone Pitch Dark Edition, Stranger of Sword City and Phantom Brave, plus 90% off the Daedalic Armageddon bundle ($15.99) for 11 games i.e. Deponia,Chaos on Deponia, Goodbye Deponia, The Whispered World Special Edition, The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav, A New Beginning - Final cut, Memoria, The Night of the Rabbit, Edna & Harvey: The Breakout, Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes, and 1954 Alcatraz, worth almost £170/$205; or get the Daedalic Gigantic bundle for the same price with 90% off i.e. only £15.99, worth £172/$213 that include Anna's Quest, Blackguards 1 & 2, Cultures - 8th wonder of the world, Cultures - Northland, Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow comes Today, Decay: The Mare, Gomo, Journey of a Roach, Munin, Randal's Monday, Skyhill, The Last Tinker: City of colors and Zanzarah: The Hidden Portal. plus Alien Rage (95%), Sniper: Ghost Warrior Trilogy (90%) in preparation for Ghost Sniper 4 being released soon, Terror Lab (80%), TurnOn (80%), Post Mortem (80%), Still Life Collection (80%), Sword of Asumi - Deluxe Edition (80%), Black Viper: Sophia's Fate (80%), Darkstone (80%), (80%), Hearts of Iron 2 (80%), Survivor Squad (80%), Ancient Space (80%), plus over 80 titles with at least 75% off (e.g. several Lego titles, Crusader Kings, Magika collection, Cities Skylines, Warlock 2, War of the Human Tanks, Naval War: Arctic circle, King Arthur II: The Role Playing game (loved this game), loads of Star Wars games, Tron Run, Thrillville: Off the Rails (excellent game), Disney Mega pack worth almost £200/$250 (with 14 excellent family oriented games including the excellent racing game split second for the dad of the family), or the disney Mega pack wave 2 with another excellent family games especially the younger ones, and one of my old favorites Titan Quest Anniversary Edition, a superb ARPG that has been overhauled with new graphics, multiplayer options improved and Steam workshop added for modders to add extra content. The original game was released as two games in 2006 and 2007 respectively and the anniversary edition was released last year on Steam. you can get it now for $4.99, usually £17.99/$19.99. There are loads more deals with excellent discounts that you'll find HERE.

The Humble Bundle site has two excellent bundles plus their monthly package that is excellent value for money. The game bundle is the Star wars Humble bundle III with up to 14 Star Wars games including Star Wars™ Knights of the Old Republic™, Star Wars™:, X-Wing Alliance, Star Wars™: X-Wing vs TIE Fighter - Balance of Power Campaigns™, Star Wars™ Galactic Battlegrounds Saga™, Pay more than the average of $11.22 (about £9.03) to also unlock!, Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II, Star Wars™ Jedi Knight™ II: Jedi Outcast™, Star Wars™ Starfighter™, Star Wars™ Knights of the Old Republic™ II: The Sith Lords™, STAR WARS™: Rebel Assault I + II, Pay $14 (about £11.27) or more to also unlock!, Star Wars™ The Force Unleashed™: Ultimate Sith Edition, Star Wars™: The Force Unleashed™ II, STAR WARS™: Rogue Squadron 3D, Star Wars™ Shadows of the Empire™, Star Wars™ Empire At War: Gold Pack. They even have a software bundle at the moment with apps such as System Mechanic, Air Parrot, EaseUS Partition Master, all three worth over $100 for a dollar, or for just over $6/less than £5 you can get Daemon tools Pro 8 lifetime, Blackblase Online backup, 3D Mark Advanced Edition, worth £110 or for $12 /under £10 PC Mark 8 advanced, VR Mark Advanced and Dashlane Premium (1 year) worth around £110, plus you get 10% off the humble monthly bundle for $12 worth over $100. If you subscribe now (ends in just under 2 weeks) you'll get as a bonus Total War: Warhammer. The Humble store features load sof discounted games (usually steam codes) for example Go Eater 2 Rage Brst (60% off),Darkest dungeon (50% off), Tales of Zestria (75% off), DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE Bundle ((75% off), Saint Seiya: Soldiers' Soul (75% off), NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM Revolution (75% off), ONE PIECE PIRATE WARRIORS 3 (75% off), Tokyo School Life (60% off), TurnOn (80% off), Khet 2.0 - The Laser Game (75% off), Influent (language game with dlc for most common languages - 50% off), Avencast: Rise of the Mage (90% off), Mr.President! (60% off), The Silent Age (90% off), Shiny Gauntlet (75% off), Dream Factory (95% off), Gravity Badgers (80% off), Cornflakes (80% off), CAT Interstellar (87% off) plus lads more discounts.
If you subscribe to the Humble Monthly, which costs $12 a month (or less if you choose various monthly plans) you not only get a large collection of decent Steam games you will also get for the first month of the subscription Total War: Warhammer, which was released last Spring and costs $59.99/£39.99. The great thing is, you can cancel at any time, so only need to receive the first bundle of games. I personally haven't bothered, but only becasue I usually have already purchased most of the games included in the monthly bundle. The usual savings on the games you get are around 90%, not counting the introductory offer. There's also lots of games on sale over on the Bundle Stars and Indie Game Stand (IGS).

For those who missed out on the Alien Shooter 2 - Conscription giveaway from last month or Zombie Shooter from last October or Alien Shooter 2 - Conscription from last June or Zombie Shooter 2 from last May you can get six games from the series including Alien Hallway, Zombie Shooter 2, Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded, Alien Shooter: Revisited, Alien Shooter and Zombie Shooter for $1.49. HERE. Pay an extra $0.50 and get a second bundle to give to your friends. All keys are Steam based. This offer ends mid March. I may also have a surprise for you soon. ;) stores.

Giveaway Team Contact and Moderation policy:

Continued from the first paragraph above........... I am posting this in light of the massive increase in negative comments not related to the game being given away, inappropriate comments and spam (Almost 700 spam comments were posted over a 24 hour period last month ) that have occurred over the past several months since the site was updated and in particular since the site started using Facebook, Twitter and Steam. This is a site that gives free games away, so it's quite shocking to see the number of negative and sometimes inappropriate comments being posted here, especially when they are not even related to the actual game that we receive. I always though getting something for free was a priviledge/perk/treat/ and deserves at least some thanks or gratitude and cannot understand why we get so many negative comments that possibly turn away potential developers who would otherwise have given the project their games. Of course we have freedom of speech, but as mentioned in my review above, there are rules to posting in this comments section; even a free society requires rules and regulations to run properly

I believe if we get lots of decent feedback about the games we get here, more developers would be happy to give away their games. Seeing lots of complaints (and spam) instead of feedback about the giveaways will not persuade other developers to give their creations away for free, especially when they may have spent thousands of hours working on the creation. So please bear this in mind when posting your comments. Any comment not about the game for example complaints, or if deemed unfriendly or inappropriate, will be deleted (usually with no explanation) or added to the spam folder, which automatically black lists the IP address you used. Although I have enjoyed responding to many of those comments in the past, I will no longer waste my time answering comments from community members who should have read the moderation policy.

Negative feedback about the games given away will always be welcomed because they can also be very constructive for developers, however, complaining about the way the site is operating or problems about downloading or installing the games or about Steam keys not received should be directed to the giveawayoftheday team via the contact form (with evidence of completed tasks, the name and email you used to enter the competition, or giveaway). I've linked to the contact form HERE; alternatively, if the problem is game related and it is late in the day (I can't moderate 24 hours a day), please also post your issue in the forums where you may get a response from the community. All games given away here have been throughly checked using several anti malware suites to ensure a safe fownload and in the 10 plus years this site has been operating, there has never been a game infected with malware. If your security software flags an issue, it's probably the Themida code that is used to protect the game from hackers or sometimes the non invasive adware that MPC games use. Themida code can also be used to hide malware, so some security softwares will automatically block anything with Themida code, even if it's absolutely safe to install. also other computer configurations (i.e. the way you have your computer set up) may have blocked the install. Often, such problems are related to your computers set up. i.e. your security may block the installation (for example quite a few game giveaways I've installed have been blocked by my copy of Zemana Anti-malware suite) Also please read the moderation policy which can be found HERE and if you do have a problem please check the FAQ's thread HERE. Thank you for reading.

FREE game offer from the moderator in exchange for quality feedback:

There were some winners from last weeks game giveaways, which I mentioned in reply to their comments Mavadelo (for Forge of Gods: Beauties and the Beasts Pack), Lahazard (for Forge of Gods: Beauties and the Beasts Pack), Torque (for Psycho Train). I've already given Mavadelo his key, but haven't heard from either Torque or Lahazard.

I've posted a list of over 200 Steam games in the forums HERE and will be adding more as time permits over the coming weeks. It is quite an extensive list of games taken from the 10 000+ Steam keys I've collected over the last several years; all were either purchased by me, with some )only a few) received free for pre-ordering games on Steam, plus a few from entering competitions and other offers). There will be a limited number of other keys available, such as Origin, uPlay and Desura keys (Desura has recently been purchased following the original owners demise and should be up and running by the end of March). I will announce the winner's from the giveaway the following week. If no announcement is made, it means no one posted feedback that qualified for a free game that week. There were no winners from the previous two weeks, though I am still considering a couple of comments from last week. I will inform those community members if I decide they are worth a game by email. If you have won a game, I will also post details in the thread I've created specifically for that purpose HERE. Once I've given a key away, the game and any comments by the winner will be removed from the list the following week. I will assume if you don't reply within a few weeks you aren't bothered about a key. Please post your preferences (list at least 3 games in order of preference over in the forums HERE. Thank you. Happy gaming.)

Depending on the quality of the feedback, I may choose to award games to more community members for each game given away, 'at my discretion'. The feedback must be about the game, and it must include a couple of paragraphs of feedback following the guidelines I've posted in the suggestions section of my review. i.e. your opinion of the game, what you liked and/or disliked plus suggestions for improvement. If you choose a game that is very cheap I may give you a second game; so, when choosing from the list I provide, please list more than one choice. If a game is chosen by more than one community member and only one key is available the key will go to the one I deem the most useful. I do have multiple keys for quite a lot of the games I've listed, so, don't be put off if you see someone else has chosen the game you want. I haven't indicated any of the games I have multiple keys for (though for example I do have several keys for the excellent Western themed AAA game Call of Juarez, which i picked up for free for purchasing several games via the Indie Gala store several months ago. spending a few dollars got me a copy of the game, so I made several separate purchases over a couple of days while the offer was still live.

I do own at least three community members a game from the previous giveaways that I posted several months ago. I'd totally forgotten about those. I do have a document with their names on, so they will get a game from the original list when I find the document (I'm extremely disorganized); or they can peruse the new list and choose something different. Just post a comment over in the forums in the appropriate thread. If you do post feedback with a view to getting one of the games and think you have covered the requirements, you don't have to do anything until I announce the winners the following week.

Please remember, this comments section is mainly for feedback about today's game giveaway. If you're not sure, read the moderation policy, which you can see HERE