Trying to play now for one week, still the problem with freezing - playing 1-2 games, then it is more a dia show.

Computer is laptop Win7 64-bit, well cleaned and maintained and defragmented and with ~6k RAM. I have meanwhile installed Cacheman as optimizer, but still the problem only with this game.

It is just the Cradle game window freezing. Leaving the window opened and moving the mouse outside the window to another screen, mouse movements and other program reactions are fast as usual.

When going back to the still opened Cradle windows, mouse and game freeze again. I am not familar with memory leaks - what else could I do?

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Hi Carmen, post the problem over in the game discussion forums. Mikiem or one of the other tech savvy guys may be able to advise. Sorry I'm plum out of idea's

Thanks, but I did try using several different download managers, it didn't make any difference.

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Hi Mum, sorry I couldn't be of more help. :(

Game is way too hard on the higher levels. The game doesn't allow you to collect extra power ups, which are greatly needed later on. No relaxed mode, so the game becomes an exercise in frustration. They also have, in the higher levels, very little areas to work in, so even the power up that you might have earned doesn't help you. You wind up stonewalled with no help. I have tried this game and am getting ready to delete it. There are many more such games that are better developed.

I've been so busy playing I keep forgetting to leave a review. I turned the music down low so it is just background, find myself humming along with it. I love the occasional birds chirping in the background too. The graphics are nice and game play is challenging at times. I had to turn the oil off on a couple levels just to get past them. The only thing I didn't get was the opening scenes about the 2 brothers and how it fits with the game, but that could just be me. This is the first game that I've played 3 nights in a row in a long time. Thanks!

It took three tries to get it downloaded as I got a base.dll error message. But the third time was the charm. Love the game having a variety of challenges to play. Beautiful graphics and it plays easily. I downloaded to a Win7 computer. Thank you for the game.

If by "memorable" you mean my hips will remember all the food I ate, sure! :). Thankful hugs to you and yours.

Hi,
Downloaded fine. Graphics are very good, moves smoothly!
Only thing is find it a bit too easy, but I am still at beginner levels.
Thank you for another nice game!
Hope all had very Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for the reply. I did read the FAQs and tried without malware and antivirus protection etc, but it made no difference. I've just tried again and it's telling me it will take 6 hours to download, which is crazy. It may be a fault with our ISP, although other internet bits etc seem to be working okay.

Never mind, this is the first time I've had a problem with downloading one of your site's games and as I'm still battling with the higher levels of Fairy Island (which have me completely stumped) it isn't a case of not having something new to help pass the time over the next few days while I try to ease a trapped nerve.

Thanks again for your help. :)

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It could be the number of community members downloading from the site? Try using a free download manager. I suggested a good one when that game was given away back in October. Here's the link to the giveaway page. Check through the replies and you should find a link to one of the better free download managers. I forgot the name of it.


http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/namariel-legends-the-iron-lord/


There's still over 6 hours left beofre the giveaway. download managers will increase the speed of the download and make sure you get an uncorrupted copy. I hope you recover from the trapped nerve quickly. Not pleasant.

Installed fine on Win 8.1 and so far, it's fun! I noticed someone mentioned "voice acting" and I'm not getting any narration, acting or story, just the games and then the shop to buy buildings. Does this come later or am I missing something? I'm only up to level 5 I think. I, too, was disappointed not to find a new game today after grabbing this one yesterday, but getting some nice play from this one. A heckuva lot better than that fairy island one from last week.

Let me add my heartfelt thanks for Whiterabbit to all the others on this Thanksgiving weekend!

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Thank you Hecate :) I hope yopur Thanksgiving was memorable?

Takes ages to download & when I try and install it I find the file is corrupted

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Hi Derek, have you tried using a download manger? There are plenty of freeware ones available. They can make sure you get a copy downloaded with no errors. Also try using a different file archiver. Check the FAQ's section over in the game discussion sticky section as there are several links to different archivers and other possible fixes.

Thank you GGOTD,great game as usual, always look forward in anticipation to see what games you have each and every weekend, keep up the good work!!!!!!!

I've tried to download this several times both yesterday and today, but each download has failed with a popup saying the file is invalid. Using a different unzip programme tells me the folder is empty. Using Vista - I have no idea if this is relevant.

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Hi Mum, have you checked the FAQ's section over in the game discussion forums? I've posted a link to it in my review above (comment number 1). It may be that your antivirus or anti malware suite is causing the problem. See if you can configure the suite to accept the giveaway. If none of the fixes in the FAQ's work, you could try turning your anti malware suite off temporarily until the game is installed, but you do so at your own risk. There has never been a giveaway infected with malware ever since the game giveaway project started early Dec 2006..

I need to uninstall this game, but there is no uninstall file. Any suggestions?

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Hi Panda, most giveaways no longer install unistallers and hardly anything is installed to the registry. Basically the games are free standing. The only way to uninstall them is to delete the games folder.

I enjoyed the first of this series and have enjoyed what I have played on this game. Glad the music can be turned off in Options since that is the first thing I do with any game--usually too repetitive. Nice match three with additional puzzles. Definitely worth playing.

It works well for me. Windows 7, 64-bit. Thanks..always nice to get games without annoying popups! I don't know about Jenkat Games anymore..the other day, I downloaded a game..and of course, denied all the junk, but my virus protection (Kaspersky Pure 3.0) wouldn't allow me to even fully install it. So, they must have changed something about their files. Not sure. Who else has experience with Jenkat Games?

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To be honest, I rarely download from any of the sites now, unless I need one of the games to write up the review. I've always thought Jenkat was the safest to use. unfortunately they all seem to change their practices with respect to toolbars, home page hijacks, browser hijacks etc at some point, IMO to confuse and hopefully gain a foothold on your computer.

Happy belated thanksgivings day everyone and thank you Whiterabbit for your hard work moderating the GGOTD. I'm still running the good old Windows XP and this game runs fine without any lags or crashes. Just like a brand new game. It's handy that it is installed onto a stand alone folder. I backed it up just in case of a computer crash. This is a pretty fun game with match 3 elements. I have the original Cradle of Rome on a disk somewhere in my mobile home in a storage bin (probably will be digging that out as XMAS arrives) Also noticed that this game was a two day run - I was hoping for another game on Sunday but it's fine as I've not played much of this but it's Sunday and since I have the clothes put away I can focus an being lazy and playing games.

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Thank you for your feedback Jason.

I'm just about to reinstall XP onto my oldest computer which has just been replaced by a refurbished computer I've had stashed away for a couple of years. I added more memory, wiped all the drives, bought a new monitor and installed a refurbished copy of Win 7 Pro 64 bit that I bought via Amazon for a decent price. I thought I'd left XP behind, but have been forced to install it because my copy of Dragon Naturall Speaking (version 9) only works on 32 bit computers (donated by a giveaway friend some years ago). I haven't used it since I moved up to Win 7, partly because I didn't have the need to use it, but I've now got to transcribe around 3 hours of a conversation I had with my builder for legal purposes.

All of my newer computers including the refurbished one apart from the oldest (and the laptop) have more than 4GB of sysRAM, so if I used the 32 bit XP disc I'd be wasting the RAM. At least with the oldest one, the combination of the 4GB sysRAM and the lowly 864MB graphic card (an old NVidia GTX 275), is only just over the threshold, so most of the RAM wont be wasted. I'd considered removing one of the 1GB sticks, but it's pointless as I have no use for the spare stick anyway as I already have several old 1G sticks spare that I can't use or give away. They will probably be sent to the dump with all my old rechargable batteries and laptop batteries that I've been gathering ready to take to recycling. (if anyone in the UK was interested I'd post then on to them. though they would have to let me know which type of stick as these will only fit motherboards more than 4 years old) :)

I love - and still do - the original Cradle of Rome. IMO the best of the match-3 games. This one is just as nice. Thanks so much.

I didn't know about the other Cradle games. I'll be checking them out, especially since this one is so decently priced.

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If you love match 3 games then you'll love the Persian version as well. :)

Great game, thank you!

Hi, there MUST be a difference between the downloads yesterday and today: yesterday I downloaded "PE", as written up in the comments. I opened the game only today on win 8 and was surpriced that this was a GERMAN version. So I wanted to give it to my partner's PC and started the download - this time WITHOUT PE
What does this mean?

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Thank you for your feedback Nidda64, I'm just aobut to install the game on my daughters computer which i was spring cleaning yesterday, so will see if I can compare the two then add an addendum to this reply. :)


I downloaded and installed a copy and found that it was still the PE version PE standing for Premium Edition. All downloads from the site should be the same, so I don't understand why you are getting the standard version a sopposed to the premium version. Some of the images in my review illustrate what you get extra in the PE version.

I too was surprised to see this again today. I installed it yesterday and thought we might be having a different game today although a game like this is certainly worth a two day offering.

I am enjoying this game but like most of the other games without relaxed mode, I'm at the point now where I will have to keep repeating the levels. This gets boring and I probably won't finish the game. My hand, eye coordination isn't what it used to be in my younger days.

I agree this is one of the better games.

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Thank you for your feedback HisSon, :)

Yeah, its a pity they didn't add a relaxed mode. I'm sure many would agree that the game and many other games would be much better enjoyed and more likley completed if relaxed modes were added. I have a long list of unfinished games that i've never been able to complete due mainly to time contraints or having to use a variety of non intuative key strokes to suceed in certain parts of the game. Many platformers come under the umbrella of the latter reason. :(

I like this game!! Suggestions (already mentioned by others, but adding mine so the developers see the trend): Need a Relaxed mode, Need to be able to move the buildings and such around (like moving things in my Fishdom tanks), Need the play area to be larger without having to change screen resolution each time. Things I really like: Being able to make new matches while previous matches are cascading, Graphics and colors, Mini-games for a little "change," Finding specific things to match (water, etc.). Overall this game is a WINNER!! Thanks GGOTD (and kudos to whiterabbit for all your hard work).

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Thank you for your feedback Lucky. :) I've not been as dedicated recently, leaving long gaps between my moderation. Need to reduce the opiates as they send me to sleep every few hours.

Only just noticed the 'Reply' option, so I'll post the tip I've posted further down here as well.

You could change the environmental language by following this route, although this could also affect other programs:

In XP it’s Control Panel → System → Advanced → Environment button in “System Variables” area: Add button: Enter LANG in the ‘Name’ field, and en (or whichever language code you wish to use) in the ‘Value’ field. Make sure to validate and save the change by clicking OK all the way back out to the desktop.

In Win 7, it’s almost an identical route except that after Control Panel → System you select ‘Advanced system settings’ instead, but from there it’s the same as XP.

If you often need different programs to start up in different languages, you could make a .bat command file to make the switch quicker.

Good luck

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Thanks again.

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Never seen this before, a giveaway running for two days. :) I only checked in to see if there were any stragglers from Saturdays comments only to find 15 comments, then noticed that the game was still live. Don't let the match three put you off, this is one of the better ones.

In response to comment #3 re: startup language:

You could change the environmental language by following this route, although this could also affect other programs:

In XP it's Control Panel → System → Advanced → Environment button in “System Variables” area: Add button: Enter LANG in the 'Name' field, and en in the 'Value' field. Make sure to validate and save the change by clicking OK all the way back out to the desktop.

In Win 7, it's almost an identical route except that after Control Panel → System you select 'Advanced system settings' instead, but from there it's the same as XP.

If you often need different programs to start up in different languages, then you could make a .bat command file to make the switch quicker.

Good luck.

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Thankyou for the feedback. Hope number 3 see's this suggestion

I was disappointed that i did not have time yesterday to download this! I am very happy it is still available!

Downloading now, and will install on win7 home premium.

LOVED the first one, can't wait to play this one!

Thank you!

This was yesterdays GGOTD. Why is this?

Downloaded and installed OK on Windows 8. Is there a reason why todays giveaway is the same as yesterdays.
I had all the cradles before, but lost them when my computer died, so please to get one back again.

This game works perfectly on win7 X64 and surprise surprise it installs itself in French ... Yippee for me and especially for my aunt...She likes it.

Is this a 2-day giveaway? It's still saying there's 23+ hrs to download and install...

For TWO days??? - Trash...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I too want to show my appreciation for the little things I like so much. Particularly GGOTD, where I get no turkeys, for sure! I too am guilty of not leaving comments more often to reflect my feeling about this site. I truly enjoy stopping by to check out the game offerings, even when they are not a genre that I like. I appreciate the problem-free files and especially the thorough reviews from Whiterabbit and helpful comments from other regulars. Looking forward to the next ones!

I personally have learned my lesson and only download my games from here. But for those of you who do try on occasion to get anything from other free game sites, I have found and would like to share a very useful free utility to avoid getting all the unwanted downloads that are bundled with their games - go to http://unchecky.com/. This little program unchecks the boxes for you by default for all the extra junk you don't want installed with the game.

Hello Whiterabbit and thanks to you and GGOTD for another interesting game. Installed on my Windows 7 64-bit in safe mode, no problems. Have thought of buying Cradle of Rome 2 several times, but hesitated because it is a "timed" game. It would be nice to always have a "relaxed mode" for those who don't like watching the clock. So far I have advanced to the level where I could make my first purchase - a well - and the timer has posed no problem. But it now becomes more complicated as you must acquire gold as well as water and food (very realistic necessities). Bought Cradle of Egypt which has a relaxed mode and have enjoyed it thoroughly. Many thanks to Awem games for their gracious gift.
Best regards

I downloaded twice, but could not get beyond a corrupt file. too bad, looked interesting.

No problems in Vista 32. As for gameplay - what more can I say than I meant to play a few minutes just to ascertain that it worked ...and an hour and a half later was still playing ...while dinner got cold.

Looks good Windows 8.1.2 x64 Pro. Even the music is decent. Thanks for this follow up to original that shows mileage for genre. So often they mess up the sequels. Winner this time.

Hi Stephen,
I have been playing/replaying Cradle of Rome for quite some time as I find it enjoyable, trying to get better all the time. Cradle of Rome 2 is definitely an upgrade IMO -- trophies, minigames, more info about play, etc. I haven't played far enough to see whether the boards are significantly different from original, but I already see that some of the buildings and citizens are different, which is nice. I absolutely give this a thumbs up, and a big thank you to you, GGOTD and Awem for offering it.
Cara in NC

This is a fun little game; thanks for giving it to us.

One quibble, though: Why are Romulus and Remus blonde and blue-eyed? One suspects that the founders of ROME should look ... Roman.


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:)

Resizing did the trick. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Thanks so much. My thanks also to the team also.

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Glad you got it working ok. No need to apologize. Have deleted that post :)

Excellent game with good music and graphics. The only thing that is missing is a relaxed (non-timed) mode.

Runs well in windowed mode on my Windows Vista laptop. I guess it would be nice if the buildings weren't pre-set as to place, but my guess is that at the end, I'll have a nice picture of an artistic rendering of Rome, probably minus the battlefields!

A walk through memory lane, I had this and other Cradle game on my NDS.
Never solved all the levels, but I give it a try this time.
Thanks for this game, have a good weekend.

Well, if you don't mind really small icons and no way to disable the timer, then you'll like this game.
Please Awem games at least give us elderly an option to turn off the timer!

Oh WOW! Love the "Cradle" series. Appropriate music, awesome graphics and great story lines. I had finished all, I thought, of them. Didn't realize they had sequels. I like the fact they tell you how to get the little "citizens". In the first ones they don't. I do agree the tiles could be bigger. Sucks to get old. Guess DragonAge and Ghostbusters are going on the back burner until I finish this one.

Many thanks to Awem Games and GGOTD for a NEW game. It is much appreciated.

Thank you to that Wrascally Wabbit too for his review. Glad you are doing better. Been under the weather ..here.

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hope you are feeling better now. not seen you around in a while.

This game downloaded very quickly to my Win7/64. Everything works fine as far as I can tell as I only played level 1 so far. Thank you Whiterabbit and all of the GGOTD team. I always look forward to seeing what you have for us. I must admit I don't usually leave any comments, but this Thanksgiving has reminded me to be more aware of even the smallest things I am thankful for. This site is always a pleasure to come to at the end of a busy week!

Oh, also received an email from Awem that the iPhone version of this game is also free today.

I'm loving it. Having to accumulate food and supplies adds a level of difficulty that sets it apart from regular match3 games. And I like being able to continue to break tiles while the cascade is happening.

Downloaded fine on W7. Full screen and in English.
Its addictive!
Thanks Awem games, GOTD and Whiterabbit :-)

I agree with SB on being able to decide where to put my village pieces. Since they don't seem to interact with the game, I would think this is doable. :) I'll add it to the suggestion box at top.

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I also agree with that suggestion. Thanks for taking the time to add. :)

Love all the "Cradle of" games but hadn't seen this one! Love it. It downloaded and ran on Win7 Home Premium with no issues at all. Thanks for a great game ... I needed a new addiction! LOL

Played all Cradle games before a hundred times. but this one is freezing after 1-3 games. Very annoying to restart and restart the game.

And, yes, closed all unnecessary services, programs, am in turbo mode etc...

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Sounds suspiciously like a memory leak. Check to see if other program will run okay while this game is running in the background after the issue starts. If they are okay you can discount a memory leak. check the FAQ's section over in the game discussion forums. I've linked to it in the problems section of my review. Try running in compatibility mode and ake sure Admin mode is checked. also make sure your graphic drivers are updated.

No one else has reported this issue, so it's likely to be an issue with your computer. Have you defragged the hard drive recently? sometimes if your hard drive is badly defragmented, programs being installed may be so fragmented that running them can be an issue. Make sure you've defragged. There are free versions available such as defraggler (from the guys who make CCleaner), but there are other free ones such as Auslogics free version (I use this one at the moment as I can't find my copy of Disk Keeper). I usually have y defragger running in the background, so my hard drives are kept in good order. I used to rarely bother until I noticed problems running games and applications.