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Azkend Giveaway
$9.99
EXPIRED

Game Giveaway of the day — Azkend

Travel all across Asia on your journey for a cure to your mysterious ailment!
$9.99 EXPIRED
User rating: 27 19 comments

Azkend was available as a giveaway on March 10, 2018!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$5.00
free today
Crazy Desert Car is an exciting game in the arcade genre.

Exclusive offer from Giveaway of the Day and MyPlayCity! No third-party advertising and browser add-ons!

Discover the secrets of an ancient relic, and its deadly curse, using your Match 3 skills! Summon powerful lightning storms to help you clear the board, and uncover the truth behind this unknown artifact. Collect unique talismans with special powers as you progress. Travel all across Asia on your journey for a cure to your mysterious ailment, and figure out the dangerous Azkend!

System Requirements:

Windows XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8/ 10; CPU: 600 Mhz; RAM: 128 MB; DirectX: 6.0; Hard Drive: 38 MB

Publisher:

MyPlayCity

Homepage:

https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/2809/azkend/

File Size:

37.7 MB

Price:

$9.99

GIVEAWAY download basket

Developed by Electronic Arts
Developed by PopCap Games
Developed by Overwolf
Developed by BeamNG

Comments on Azkend

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#1

...........................................Moderator comment...................................
Moderation will be sporadic over the weekend. Due in part to family issues.
Azkend
In Brief
An older sliding match three game.
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Installation:
downloads to a 37.7 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 can save games on any drive they wish. The newly installed game is 33.9 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\Azkend
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)
Introduction:
Discover the secrets of an ancient relic, and its deadly curse, using your Match 3 skills! Summon powerful lightning storms to help you clear the board, and uncover the truth behind this unknown artefact. Collect unique talismans with special powers as you progress. Travel all across Asia on your journey for a cure to your mysterious ailment, and figure out the dangerous Azkend!
Reference accessed HERE 10th March 2018
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The Game:
Review 1:
Pattern-matching puzzler Azkend‘s chief innovation isn’t its haunting atmosphere, lilting Far Eastern soundtrack or even admittedly gorgeous presentation. (Although they are major pluses, elevating the title to that elite rank of games you can tell received the royal treatment when it comes to both manpower and production values.) Rather, it’s the way in which the outing buffs and polishes an oft-explored formula to an undeniably brilliant shine, proving that even the most cliched design conventions can still be used to tremendous effect, if given the proper time and tender loving care.
Consider the storyline, which instantly hooks viewers with its suspenseful premise of a visitor to foreign lands who finds themselves strangely called back to the Orient years after finding a mysterious artefact which changed their life. A masterpiece in minimalism, although you’re drip-fed little more than a line of dialogue here, a new picture of a snowy mountaintop or remote pagoda there, one can’t help but keep at the tale to see what develops. Likewise, basic play’s setup couldn’t be more nonchalant either, as – faced with a randomly-shaped grid of item-bearing hexagons at each standalone level – you simply attempt to make chains of three or more similar objects.
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Per usual, doing so merely requires clicking and dragging your mouse over said parasols, leaves, seashells, flowers and chalices in linear order, with any matches made instantly disappearing from the board. (Following which, gravity causes higher-situated items to tumble down and take their places.) To win each stage, you must convert each tile’s backdrop to blue by making a match using it, then – once all hexagons have been coloured in – lowering the bit of talisman which appears afterwards until it touches the bottom row of the pile. The whole time you’re playing, the clock is slowly running out, with only a limited amount of seconds afforded to beat every scenario.
Predictably, the further you progress across the brooding mountain range that passes as Adventure mode’s campaign map, the likelier you are to encounter obstacles including steel tiles, iced-over tiles, locked titles and spreading tar. To get ahead, you’ll eventually be forced to counter each or all on any single level (which may further constrain movement by way of choke points or only a limited selection of initial items) by making multiple or adjacent matches using these playing pieces.
If it all sounds a bit too familiar, don’t be fooled. The first twist here is that any time you utilize a previously untapped hexagon you’re awarded a lightning rune. Fill your Thunder Meter with five, and an equal number of electrified bolts crash onto the screen, randomly destroying certain items and colouring in their tiles. (Thankfully, the computer generally focuses on those targets most helpful to the player.)
The second is that if you link larger numbers of objects in one fell swoop, you’ll receive an instant bonus in the form of a series of extra lightning strikes that are awarded for joining 7 hexagons at once and every 3 in the same sequence thereafter. Grab enough talisman pieces, and you’ll be able to access their special powers too, with participants able to select one patron artefact before each stage. Connect four or more items corresponding to these powerful treasures, and shooting stars come crashing onto the screen, bombs explode in a jaw-dropping display of smoke and flame and tile-destroying rays of light spray out in random directions.
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Amazingly, the fun doesn’t stop at these selectable special weapons and bonuses’ stunning accompanying pyrotechnics either. Although groups of levels are set against the same, static backdrop, these environments (composed of still, but pretty pictures) colour in more with each stage passed. Fill in enough, and you’ll get to play a “Where’s Waldo”-type mini-game that challenges you to spot certain objects or portions of the scene highlighted in a viewfinder.
While ultimately a fleeting amusement, there’s plenty of incentive to participate in these diversions too, with extra seconds permanently awarded to your total available time on every successive encounter the more you successfully spot. Throw in a full-fledged survival mode with levels specifically keyed to each talisman as well, and it all makes for one heck of a lot of eye candy and replay value.
On the downside, veterans can blaze through the core tale in just a couple afternoons, assuming the action doesn’t prove too Deja Vu-inspiring or repetitious. And certainly, options to pick your preferred bonus (though not all, such as the extinction talisman, are that effective or interesting) combined with frequent lightning strikes speed up the pace and increase chances of triumphing all the more. But really, as much as beginners will immediately cotton to the quest, and longstanding genre stalwarts can’t help but be amused by how fresh and perky a previously stodgy and overused gaming trope suddenly feels, well… Suffice it to say that we’re giving this total surprise gem two enthusiastic thumbs up.
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Edited reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by Scott Steinberg on Dec 21, 2007 . Reposted by Whiterabbit-uk 10th March 2018.
Other Reviews and Videos of Azkend:
You can see Big Fish community reviews of Azkend HERE and if you want to see some game-play you can HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE
Conclusion:
Azkend is a decent sliding match three from 2007. It’s got all the usual elements of this type of game. I Bought this shortly after it was released back in 2007 via Reflexive Arcade games (now owned by Amazon), and used my original copy to write up this report. The images I’ve taken while playing the game don’t take account of the MyPlayCity logos that usually accompany games from MyPlayCity. The graphics are looking a little dated now, but generally they still look pretty good, especially for the age of this game. p.s. I loved the background music.
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Suggestions:
After you've had an opportunity to play today's giveaway please take a few moments to give some positive or negative feedback about the game; for example, what you liked or disliked about the game, or how it could be improved. If you don't like the genre at all, please explain why and if any, what improvements would change your mind? If you don't have time to post a comment today, please do so at your convenience, thank you. To access the comments once the giveaway is over, open the game giveaway to its home page then scroll to the bottom of the page where it says Archives and select the date the giveaway was live (giveaway days are in bold type). This will open up the appropriate page for you to post your comment or review.
If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE; or If you prefer to purchase the game you can get it HERE via Big Fish Games.
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Problems getting the game to work:
If you're having problems installing or activating or getting Azkend to work please visit the FAQ's Thread HERE and read through the communities comments because sometimes fixes have already been posted, for example, a common issue seen since the Themida wrapper was introduced three years ago is that some community members installation of the game is blocked by their security (usually an error message is flagged for example 'The executable is corrupted' even though in reality it is not) because Themida code has been known to hide malware, so as a precaution some anti malware programs will block and even delete the suspect installation files even though they are actually free from malware. This issue can be solved either by rebooting your computer in safe mode with networking or a quicker method is to temporarily turn off your security software to allow the installation. In the almost 11 years the game giveaway site has been operating there has NEVER been a game given away that was infected with malware.
If for any reason you want to contact the giveaway team, for example, you have a game to offer the community, or are unable to download the latest game or other issues that the FAQ's thread or these comments don't cover or solve you can do so HERE
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I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away Azkend and also to the game giveaway team.
Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:
If Azkend doesn't interest you, but you still hanker for something new to play, you'll find details of some game deals whether they be sale items, indie bundles or games being given away for free HERE (I've not updated the thread in a while, but most of the links still take you to the latest deals).
The rest of the information that used to be posted in the game review can be found in the forums HERE. Finally, check out Delenns thread for details of other free games and offers HERE
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Reply   |   Comment by Whiterabbit-uk  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+20)

Whiterabbit-uk,
Wish your strength, you will need it.

Reply   |   Comment by Ootje  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

Whiterabbit-uk,
My prayers are with you and your family and especially for your father's recovery!

Reply   |   Comment by Mardel  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)

Whiterabbit-uk,
All the best for you and your family, keeping you in my prayers.

Reply   |   Comment by Anu  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

Whiterabbit-uk,

Blessed are those looking after their Loved ones. Get Well Wishes to Yours, WR.

Reply   |   Comment by fran  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

Whiterabbit-uk,
This, on top of worries over your wife's health, is an added challenge; best wishes to you all on this, and hope seeing all the messages here can help you a little bit more.

Reply   |   Comment by alexyu  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

Whiterabbit-uk, I add my wishes to your family for strength. Hope all is well, and you soon get a break from the ill health plaguing all of you.Take the time you need for yourself, as well as for your father. You can't be strong for anyone else if you neglect you! Will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Reply   |   Comment by Catlady  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)
#13

Hi,

I had trouble opening it. It froze, I went out and came back in and it opened. The game
play is easy, at least for the first few levels. Its similar to others, but still engaging. I would
improve the graphics a bit. Dress up the bland page with the map and play. Make the movement dots
clickable also. I look forward to playing more. Hope your family and father will be well, White Rabbit.
Prayers! have a oood night! Lee

Reply   |   Comment by Lee  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#12

I seem to remember having this game before (previous computer), and not liking it much. But this time around, I'm enjoying it. I usually don't like timed games, but... maybe I'm getting faster? (LOL!) It's nice to see a game that doesn't take up half a gig of disk space, but then it is about 10 years old. I like the powerups, and the graphics, and the music.

Thanks all, and Rabbit, I hope your family members all get better soon.

Reply   |   Comment by Delilah  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#11

Hey Wabbit,

Already had this one. Can't remember where I got it though. It's a decent match 3 and I enjoyed the music. I liked the slider idea..

Thanks to GGOTD and MPC for the game. And thanks for the great review, Wabbit.

Hope Michelle is feeling better. I will pray for all of you and your father. Huggles and comforting thoughts go out to all your family.

Reply   |   Comment by delenn13  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#10

I've been enjoying the game. Connecting the tiles seems to hesitate some times. The scope of some of the power ups makes you wait until they finish. The lightning sometimes breaks a partially drawn chain (ugh).

One of the hints is:
Remember consider using another Talisman if you're in trouble.
This would seem to tell me I can change Talisman's while I'm in a level - but it doesn't seem to work that way.

I like the hidden object part - that it twists it somewhat, making it not quite so easy.

Reply   |   Comment by dave6d6ky  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#9

Downloaded and installed easily on Windows 7 Professional. I have no problems at all. I did disable my firewall and antivirus before the download. Very nice, easy and relaxing game. Thank you.
My prayers are with you and your family also.

Reply   |   Comment by Michele  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#8

Praying that The Lord will give you strength and comfort at this time.

Reply   |   Comment by HisSon  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#7

Ok clear winner. Music along had me into it from just the start. Relaxing Asian chant style fits mood. Full screen, sliders, clear graphics. Windows 10 x64 Pro. Seems maybe a few new bits to the Match 3 theme like the tar baddie cell that spreads fast if don't deal with it but haven't run into that yet having just did tutorial & first one.
Uses that click & drag over nearby cells. Tutorial allowed for long chains = lightening.
Along with each cell in chain there's a nice audio beep so you know you tied to one since in heat of moment one can overlook/misdirect the chaining. I also read the short pre tips which might help newbies since couple new ideas in this one. Rest fits the formula on ice, steel and such type of cells to clear/chain. Like idea of making a full board blue.
Version 1.04 For fans a real 9.5/10 as these things go. Thanks GOTD. Main drag is those MPC pre & post nags. I might just look again for how to defeat that but for now I'll just enjoy.

Reply   |   Comment by sludgehound  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#6

Love it!

Reply   |   Comment by Jeffrey K Benham  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#5

Not a bad match 3 game, if you are one of those who likes this type. Only played 1 level as yet though, thanks for the game.

Reply   |   Comment by Barbara  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#4

I run Win 7 Home Prem and once installed I was not able to do anything with the game or with my computer. Tried twice to start the game and both times had to unplug the computer to restart it. Could not even use ctrl/alt/delete to get the task menu so I could just stop this game. The game flashed lots of "background" programs (?) or something on the screen continuously and I was not able to get the "start" button to actually go into the game.

Sorry to hear about your father. May he improve with you there.

Reply   |   Comment by Sunnie  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#3

wish you and the family the best!!!!!!

Reply   |   Comment by denise  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#2

Really sorry to hear that... wish him better soon as he can be.

Reply   |   Comment by Dana  –  6 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
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