I enjoy HOG/Adventure games like this, but I had a few gripes with this one. There was too much to-ing and fro-ing and the map did not allow you to move locations. At one point, fairly early on in the game, I thought that I would scream if I had to go up or down in that lift again. Also, I never got to grips with some of the games; I didn't even understand what I was trying to achieve in the final one arranging the zodiac signs.

I played this the last time it was out, and enjoyed it then. As soon as it started, though, my first memory was "Oh, this is the one with so much back and forth.". A good game that would be made better by simply allowing the map to be navigable.

I'm a little late to the party, but wanted to say thanks for this game. HOGs are my favorites, and this one's good. Graphics are good and puzzles run the gamut from simple to pretty head scratching. The only thing I'd change is to make the map interactive. I kept getting lost getting from one place to another. As for the darkness, I just turned up my screen brightness. Worked well. I installed it with no trouble (after disabling Avast for 10 minutes) on my Windows 10 laptop.

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Thank you for your comment Cindy. I was even later moderating. Spent most of yesterday getting ready for our vacation. Didn't have any time to check for comments.

I am not really a HOG fan, but I downloaded this nice game, and wanted to stop back in and say thanks. I was a bit concerned because of one poster's comment about it being so dark. I also have trouble when this type of game uses scenes that very dark. It not only strains my eyes, I simply cannot find things.

I haven't had much time yet to play, but I haven't come across any scenes that are too dark to find things. Thumbs up for the graphics. Thumbs up for the game. And thank you.

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Thank you for your feedback kalmly, appreciated. Please excuse the late moderation.

Hi!
I had this game with regular edition from here I believe. This is a more enhanced version, as
far as I have played. The graphics are better. It uploaded fairly quick and game play is smooth.
Like most of these games you have to complete one activity at a time to move on, so for me
its slow going! I haven't much time to play right now, but its a good game of this style!
Thank you for another interesting game!
Have a great week! Lee

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Thank you for your feedback Lee, appreciated.

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I'm retiring for the night. Will continue to moderate in the morning. If you have any issues with today's game please check other comments, and if that doesn't help check the FAQ's thread HERE.

Good night.

I am going away on vacation in a couple of days, so probably won't be posting any full reviews until the end of this month. That said, I may post something. It all depends on what the game is and if I can get decent internet access at the chalet we are staying in. I'm going to Croatia for two weeks. I will still moderate, but it won't be as regular as usual, probably only couple of times a day.

Downloaded and installed fine (after disabling AVG and Zemana AntiLogger). But about half the games from GAOTD come up in a very small screen. I have full screen enabled in the options, but the game shows up in a screen that takes up about 1/3 of my monitor. Impossible to play a HOG in a tiny screen. Not sure why some games come up full screen just fine and others won't. Guess I'll be un-installing this one (darn!!) unless someone can help me.

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It could be the resolution of your monitor isn't native to the games, especially if you have a relatively new monitor and try to play older games. for example, I've been reinstalling a lot of older games, some of which are over a decade old, but when I try to play them, the speed of the game appears multiplied 10 times the normal speed. I tried to play what used to be one of my favorite breakouts the other day. The ball speed was so fast I couldn't hit one back.

I have already played this one and it is a good game. A must play if you are a fan of the genre. It's definitely a bit creepy in parts. One thing I would change is being able to move from place to place by clicking on the map. You do have to go back and forth a bit, and sometimes I would forget which path to take to get to a particular place. Good puzzles, good artwork - all in all an enjoyable game.

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Thanks for your comment appreciated. :)

It will not install on my windows 8.1 laptop. It will activate just fine. I have downloaded the thing 7 times and each time it activates without installation and number 6 download was empty. I've searched my computer ......nothing.


Very disappointed!

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Hi Shani

It's probably your security that is blocking the installation of today's game. since the Themida wrapper was introduced three years ago it's a common occurence. There are three ways (at least) that you can do to get the game installed. The easiest is to temporarily turn off your security until the game has been installed. The giveaway team have been giving games away virtually every weekend for over 10 years and in the first 18 months virtually every day and have never given away an infected game becasue they always thoroughly check the game before it can be downloaded using several decent security bundles. You can also try white-listing the giveaway files with your security or finally rebooting your computer in safe mode with networking, then install the game. Themida code can also be used to hide malware, which is why some security software blocks the installation. It is a false positive.

For months now I have downloaded the games then executed the setup file in the folder created in my downloads section of my Windows 10 system. It activates the software then just says you have successfully completed the install. But no steps to save the file to a location or create a desktop icon, etc. Very strange. Another similar computer in my household has the same issue. Worked flawlessly before. Any ideas? Thank you.

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Hi ravenwhale

It's possibly your security that is blocking the game. It has done so for several of the games we've got recently for me and other community members as well. This is becasue the giveaway files are wrapped in a Themida based wrapper to protect the game from hackers. Unfortunately Themida can also be used to hide malware, though in this case it's not. As I've said many times the giveaway team have been giving away games for over 10 years virtually every weekend and for the first 16 months of the project virtually every day of the week, and have never given away a dirty game. They always check all games thoroughly with several anti malware suites to ensure they are clean.

There are three things you can try, the easiest is to temporarily turn off your security, install the game, then turn it back on, or you can try white-listing the giveaway files with your security software and finally reboot your computer into safe mode with networking then install the game. Each one should fix the issue. you may have tio do it with all of these games, but it is worth trying initially without doing them to see if it installs.

The giveaway team were forced to add the Themida wrapper about 3 years ago becasue it had become common knowledge how to rip off the executable easily and then be able to install the game at your leisure any time any where. Some community members were even posting details on blog sites and you tube showing how to do it. this was impacting on developers giving us games because their games were appearing on Peer to peer sites.

Also, the MPC files that are still present in the giveaway version include some traces of adware, though the toolbar and other adware which is usually found in the inchdata folder, has been removed from the giveaway version, but if you have an anti adware program installed, that also may be blocking the installation.

Okay a while ago I hat a GoTD that would not install, and when I posted about it I saw the next day ( Unfortunately. ) that I could try to make a folder on my desktop called Test ( Or whatever I wanted. ) and exclude that folder in my AV so that I could try it that way. It was to late for that piece of software, but two weeks later I saw a HoG here and by using that test folder trick I was able to install that HoG and play it. ( Do not know the name any more, it was a while ago and I removed it after I finished it. )

Now I have played the standard version of Dorian Gray Syndrome last year and I found it to be a very good game. So I saw this collectors edition and downloaded it. I place it inside that Test folder and clicked the setup file ... and that was when I got greeted again by this screen. ( That is literally all I get ... no game, just that. )

http://imgur.com/wAnVNYT

I am really starting to hate this GCD install system, they really need to step away from that system ... Fast!

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The gcd file was added to stop hackers from ripping off giveaways. Many of the earlier games we got from places like Playrix and Alawar were ripped so that you could install them at any time. The giveaway team were forced to use a Themida based wrapper to protect the giveaways from those hackers beasue the developers were basically saying that if security wasn't increased they would no longer give their games away. The giveaway versions of the MyPlayCity games are virtually the same, except the inchdata folder has been removed.

As soon as I click the installation file, I keep getting a box that pops up saying "Sorry can't connect, try again later", I got the same thing with yesterday's game to. Any suggestions?

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Not sure. Thousands of community members have downloaded and installed this game, so it's possibly an issue at your end, maybe the router, or it could be your security blocking the site due to the Themida wrapper in the games download folder. Try using a different browser to the one you are using. also, even if you no longer use Internet Explorer it still needs to be set to online to be able to download from the giveaway site.

Great!

Thanks GGOTD and GGOTD for another game I'll enjoy.

I downloaded file ,when i try to run set up exe. i get an error msg. failed to launch the program when trying to activate..shut off anti-virus still same message..can you help?

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Hi Rick

Do you have anti adware programs installed as well? MPC games do contain an element of adware, though in the giveaway version it has been disabled. If you continue to have issues installing today's game, try downloading the MyPlayCity version (I've linked to it in my review), which is the same as the giveaway version except the inchdata folder has been removed. If you do download the MPC version make sure you uncheck the check- boxes then once installed open up the installed folder (by default it will install to the path I've posted in my review, but you can copy it over to elsewhere once installed if you wish. Open up the installed folder and delete the inch data folder then you'll have exactly the same version as the giveaway version.

I still can't get your games and such to download onto my windows 10 laptop. there's no gcd extension association on my laptop. it shows up blank, so how or what to I associate it with. I got it added but have no program to associate to is to even work it. hope you understand. I took a screenshot of what shows in my opened file, but don't know how to add it on here.

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Go to https://postimg.org/ and create a free account (they have stopped allowing uploads unless you have an account due to people posting unsuitable images), then upload the image selecting 640x480 (for message boards) then click on choose images and select. Uploading only one image you'll see an image like the second image below, to post an image on this comments section you need to select the last link labelled 'Hotlink for Website'. If you upload more than one image you'll see something like the third image. Again to post in this comments section choose Hotlink for Website from the drop down menu. The other codes are used for other types of post, for example use the direct link and add [ img ] ( with no spaces) to the beginning and end with a / at the beginning of the img at the end. With the Hotlink for Website code you can delete the two b and /b with <> from the end of the images unless you want to label the images:

Hope this helps. With respect to the problem with association. are you trying to install the game by clicking on the gcd file? To install the game you must click on the orange coloured set up file. Also your security may be blocking the installation due to the Themida wrapper. Some security will automatically block anything with Themida code becasue it can be used to hid malware as well. Try rebooting your computer and starting up in safe mode with networking, or alternatively while-list the gcd file or temporarily turn off your security while installing the game.

I already own and have played this game at least twice, and I highly recommend it. Especially if you're both a HOG and mild horror fan. It's a bit old (respectively), but holds up pretty well compared to current games of its type.

The sequel Lonely Hearts Murders is good too.

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:)

I already own this game so I will not be downloading today but it is a great game. I love hidden object games so I hope to see more of this genre.

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:)

I agree, it is well worth a download. It is one of the better games in this genre. Music fits the gameplay, the rooms look awesome, nice blend of simple and more indeep puzzles. Oscar is the babbling type, gladly I received a hint to speed up his conversation in the 2nd room

The story is not very surprising. The intro scene was long and ended abrupt. As usual the scenes show that all the programming hours go to the puzzles and not to the scenes. They are moderate or even low quality to todays standards.

Thank you for offering this game for free.

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Thank you for your feedback Daan1962, appreciated.

This is an excellent game - a combination of Adventure, HOG, Puzzle, and a really good story. It doesn't have a lot to do with Oscar Wilde's original novel, but takes the basic idea and goes its own way from there.

The graphics are excellent (a bit dark sometimes, but that's in the context of the story) and the music and sound effects good. I tend to turn down the music and sounds but even at a lower volume these were fine.

I found it to take me quite a long time to finish which is an indication of how good a game it was - in fact, I was rather sorry when I'd finished it. All in all, a really great game.

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Thank you for your feedback Margaret.

It seems another static "game". I had enough static games from here. I'll pass.