I am in the collectors edition "the dream" part and cannot get past the piano. Please explain. Thanks!

GGAOTD TICKER still NOT visible; for more informations, see 32nd comment here: http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/questerium-sinister-trinity-collectors-edition

I submitted the compressed package, and the unzipped files, to WinDefender, SuperAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes and EmsiSoft Emergency Kit (those programs are installed or portable on this PC): no problems detected.
I submitted the GGAOTD setup.exe to virustotal, virscan and Jotti (metascan wasn't available):
- Jotti found nothing
- virscan found one false positive --> fprot found W32/Felix:P:Lastsect_unkn!Eldorado, but the other 38 engines found nothing.
- Virustotal found five false positives --> K7Antivirus found Riskware ( 0040eff71 ), K7GW found Riskware ( 0040eff71 ), rising found PE:Malware.Generic(Thunder)!1.A1C4 [F], jiangmin found Packed.Multi.ebd, Zillya! found Adware.OutBrowse.Win32.77031 but the other 48 engines found nothing.
Aren't "false positives" becoming too many?

The game has been installed well on windows 10 standard x64.
I install/extract all the games in d:\games and usually I move the shortcuts from the desktop to that folder... But when the shortcut isn't created by the setup application of the game, I must do this task myself.
This time I HADN't to create the shortcut by myself.
The game started and finished without problems, although "system requirements" say Windows XP/ Vista/ 7.
On the exit, the windows compatibility app didn't manifest itself (it didn't enable/tick/select Disable display scaling on high DPI settings in its properties – compatibility tab, because I’m using high DPI settings at 150%; it worked well without that setting).

Thanks for this game, as usual, to Whiterabbit-uk (aka Stephen), to GGAOTD and to Immanitas!!!

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

Hi xilolee, thank you for your reports, as always they are appreciated. Although there do seem to be more false positives than usual,. there are no reports from the community. There were almost 16600 downloads. If there was malware we would have been inundated by reports from the community. Those false positives are probably due to the Themida code that's included in the giveaway wrapper. as you know. hackers have used Themida code to hide malware attacks. Themida is a very good smoke screen for such attacks as it's really difficult to crack open. It's one of the reasons the giveaway team decided to use Themida so as to prevent community members from stealing the registered executable. Prior to it's use, some community members had posted details on the net on how to rip off the exe file so that you could install the game any time you wanted, basically giving you a full version copy of the game with unlimited installations.

Have a great New Year. :)

Swampy, that's the best time to hunt them, as they're so engrossed in playing with their new toys, they don't notice you sneaking up on them.

Win10 Home 64bit. Loaded and played well. The only thing I hated about the game was that book that sparkles every time you did a stage. So annoying until you clicked it. Otherwise a very good game, easy to play and finished. Even the bonus game is finished. Good story line too. Thank you.

Hi!
The game downloaded a bit slow on windows 8.1, but set up easily.
Play is smooth and graphics are good. The addition of the collectible pieces is nice,
but unsure what they will add up to. I played through to entering the house and when wasn't
sure what to do next, I used a hint. Didn't realize at first that have to click the activity
window open first then click on a hint or clicking hint was useless. I am unsure if it ends
in the next scene or will open a new one!
Thanks for another good game!
Happy Holidays to all!

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

Thank you for your feedback Lee. :)

Thank you for the great Boxing Day gift. The game downloaded in less than 5 min. Install was flawless on Win 7.1, 64 bit computer. Graphics are beautiful. Have a great weekend.

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

:)

Thank you so much GGOTD! I have wanted this game for awhile. I didn't realize which game it was until I saw the desktop icon. Thing is that the publisher is listed as Immanitas Entertainment. I thought the game was from Artifex Mundi (I love their HOPAs so much) so I looked into it. I can't find Demon Hunter on Immantitas but did find it listed here: www.artifexmundi.com.

Same for Queen's Quest last week. It is listed as published Oct this year so it is pretty new. Demon Hunter is from Dec 2014.

I am so grateful to get to play what appears to be the collector's edition. Thank you muchly.

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

Hi Gina, The creator of the game was Artitex Mundi, but the supplier who gave the game was Immanitas. :)

Love games like this! Thanks so much, GGOTD!

I don't wanna hunt demons on the day after Christmas!

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

Okay!

Installed fast and without disabling Avira - plays well, great graphics.

I could create a desktop icon while installing plus in the options you can chose windowed mode and also change the cursor to basic.
There is a relaxed and an experienced mode to chose from.

As you may have guessed - I love the game and the storyline.

Thanks for this nice gem.

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


:)

spelling mistake on the object "see shell" should be Seashell

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

:)

bellissimo gioco siete grandi a tutti voto 10 va' con win 8.1 alla grande grande avventura grazie.

If you'll forgive me Maurice, I think a little clarification is needed. Windows Defender was originally only an anti-spyware/adware program, which meant that it's function, and it's power to interfere with installations was very limited, and was unlikely to interfere with a software installation. Starting with Windows 8, it became a full anti-virus program - replacing Microsoft Security Essentials - which means it's functions expanded considerably, and it's much more capable of interfering with and installation. My point is, this is very unlikely to be a problem for anyone running Win 7 and before, but could very well be for those running 8 and 10. Thanks for bringing that up, Maurice.

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


:)

I am just starting with the exe file and the activation (gcd)I think is having problems.

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

Hi Allen, have you made sure Windows Defender is also turned off? Sorry I can't be of more help. hopefully Mike or someone else from the community may be of assistance. Check back later just in case. Also post over in the game discussion forums as you are more likely to get feedback over a few days, whereas once this giveaway is over there will be few visitors to this page.

Are you getting the same problem with the main giveaways?

Still sounds like there is something on your computer that is conflicting with the giveaway wrapper.

A more invasive fix would be to install Game Booster (free from Razer - http://www.razerzone.com/gb-en/cortex/game-booster ) which automatically turns off anything that's not required to play your games, plus you can configure it to turn off other non windows programs. this would enable you to see if there are any programs conflicting with the installation. Usually you have to run a game with the Razer version of game booster, but I'm sure it can also be run manually. Configure it to turn off all non essential background programs, then see if you can install and run the game. Alternatively open up Task Manager and manually turn off everything that's not essential for running windows. see if you can then install and run the giveaway. If you can, you can then by trial and error find out which program/s is/are the problem.

I tried all that last week and nothing worked.

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

:(

how do I open this game?

...................................Moderator comment...............................
Hello Karen, I'm presuming you are new to the site? The games here don't usually install desktop shortcuts, but today's should allow you to during installation. If you didn't check the box, you'll need to go to where you installed the game and create your own shortcut via the games executable.

Fun game! No problem on Windows Vista, and no false positives on viruses either. Only "problem" is that it will only run full screen, doesn't say what resolution I would need but full screen isn't giving me any video problems so I can't really complain. Installer allowed me to install where I wanted and prompted me for start menu location, so altogether I like it so far. Nice job!

This might help: not only do you have to disable the anti-virus you installed yourself, but windows installs its own windows defender that will stop installation of these programs from giveaway of the day, which means you also have to check for that.

Bonjour,
pour ceux qui voudraient jouer en français...
Je n'ai pas réussi à trouver une solution...mais vous pouvez toujours jouer la démo gratuite en français pour démarrer :
http://www.bigfishgames.fr/jeux-a-telecharger/27128/demon-hunter-chronicles-beyond-untold-story/download.html


Hello,
for those who would like to play in French ...
I have not managed to find a solution ... but you can still play the free demo in French to start:
http://www.bigfishgames.fr/jeux-a-telecharger/27128/demon-hunter-chronicles-beyond-untold-story/download.html

Tried several solutions, so far without success, but thanks for the assistance.

love this game - not so hard that I have to look for 'cheat' website. Very solvable. Loaded great on Win7 (upgraded to win10

Installed on a Windows 7 64 computer,with no problems. Game play is good,most graphics are excellent,this is a game with good playability,you won't be bored,especially if you enjoy hidden object games. Shame there's no manual like some previous giveaways,to aid you in where to look for some objects,especially in the beginning scenes,but that's my only complaint.

Scoring

Gameplay – 8
Graphics – 8
Audio – 9
Re-playability – 8
Originality – 7

Total = 40 out of 50 = 8 out of 10

Installed Ok Windows 10 x64 Pro, runs Ok. Looks decent for genre. Thanks for a nice holiday game u that can pick up off & on during busy period.

I found that AVG Zen was causing the games to not install. I downloaded, double-clicked the setup.exe file, and got the gamegiveaway successfully activated screen but the program was never installed. I removed AVG Zen and it now installs fine. It appears AVG Free automatically installs AVG Zen. I found a solution to remove AVG Zen and only install AVG Free on the AVG support page: https://support.avg.com/answers?id=906b00000008pKPAAY

I keep getting failure to launch program error. I got the same error last sunday.

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

Hi Allen, Check the FAQ's thread that I link to in the problems section. It's more than likely to be your security and, if you are running the latest windows, their own security that may be blocking the install. This is due to the Themida code that is used to wrap the giveaway. It's often seen as a thread because it can also be used to wrap malware. In this case it is being used to protect the games setup file from hackers.

I am on win10 pro using bullguard total protection and had the same issue as ken did.
On win7 and vista there where not issues installing the game with the same bullguard total protection installed.
I did receive an error that the program could not connect to the internet after launching the setup.
The only way to fix this was to disable the firewall until the game was installed, then everything was fine.
Just a note; this effected some win10 core applications like the store, xbox for win10 and windows feedback app.

downloaded and installed fine on my Win7 laptop...
There is no W10 listed on the system specs...

thanks GGAOTD - still happy everytime I come here that you haven't adopted the complicated download/registration system of GAOTD...

Merry Christmas all

Downloaded pretty darn quick, and installed fine on Win 8.1. Only played for a couple of minutes, but looks good! Thanks for another "adventure game" and of course, for everything you do!

One of my consistent complaints about 10 is that it can behave differently from one install to the next. IMHO in this case it's quicker & easier to just copy the game itself rather than troubleshoot, which at the end of the day might take hours & not be successful. For the last several years I've been installing -- But Not Running -- the GOTD game in my XP Mode VM, 7-zipping the game folder, copying it to a USB stick, & expanding the game's folder into a "Games" folder on the hard drive in my wife's PC.

It's never failed to work, & I don't see why it wouldn't work in your case, using a regular Windows install rather than a VM [I just use a VM for convenience, since I won't be installing the game on this PC]. For me it's more convenient to use a USB stick than transferring via the network because my wife's PC may not be on at the time, or she may be busy & I don't want to interrupt her. I copy the games into a "Games" folder on a separate hard drive partition, because it keeps things simple & is easy to manage, e.g. when I added 10 to her PC I just copied all the game shortcuts from win7.

Today's game has a real installer -- more often the GOTD setup will just put the game's folder with all its files in another folder, by default C:\Games -- with 2 .exe files in the game's folder, one with cheats. When I transfer a game to my wife's PC, I look in the game's folder for the .exe file, right-click -> copy, then right-click -> Paste Shortcut, wherever I want the shortcut, e.g. the desktop &/or Start Menu. Then I rename that shortcut as needed to match the game, done.

Obviously there's something different between the computers that's causing an issue. Anti-virus software is one of the most common reasons. The installer also needs to connect to the Internet so your wife's computer needs Internet access.

Thanks! That sorted the problem out!
It's weird though as we both have Bitdefender set up the same on both computers.
That's computers for you :-)

...................................Moderator comment...............................
Glad you got it sorted. :)

Installed ok on my Windows 10 machine, but every time I try on my wife's computer, also running Windows 10, it starts to run the installer, then just freezes.
I tried 5 times and when I check with Task Manager it shows all the attempts running, but nothing happens.
This happens nearly every time I try to install the Gameoftheday on my wife's computer, yet hers is more up-to-date machine than mine.
Anyone else come across this problem?

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

Hi Ken,
There may be a conflict with a program running on your wife's computer. Try checking the event log (type event viewer in your search field), and see if there are any error messages immediately after trying to install the game. It's usually the security suite that causes the issue due to the giveaway wrapper containing Themida code, which can be associated with malware, but in this case isn't, so the security software blocks installation. the only way around it is to temporarily turn off your security, then turn it back on once the game has been installed.

Is this game also in French?

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

Sometimes you can juggle different language versions to get a working copy. bricolou usually posts details if it's possible. If there is a French Demo available you could try and install that, then try exchanging parts of the game giveaway version. You may have to make backup copies and try with different changes to see if it works, though it may not be possible. If it is, I'm sure bricolou will post about it later.

Have this on Steam, and can confirm that this is a decent casual P&C game. Well worth the download if you don't already own this.

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

:)

Sorry but this game failed to install even after trying - downloading it a second time, extracting before installation and always the same sort of problem.
Crash explanation -
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: setup.exe_Demon Hunter
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 2a425e19
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.19045
Fault Module Timestamp: 56258e62
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0002e056
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: d00e
Additional Information 2: d00edead32b779441f999f405b2e93d4
Additional Information 3: 05a0
Additional Information 4: 05a00a8309c9dbb6728759877cec65d1

Shame looked like a good game of this type.

..................................Moderator comment.............................
The ntdll.dll file is a file created by Microsoft that has a description of "NT Layer DLL" and is the file that contains NT kernel functions. The ntdll.dll file is located in the c:\windows\system32 or c:\winnt\system32 directory and can also be found in the c:\i386 directory.

also, check HERE link, which indicates it may have been an NVidia update that may have casued the problem....


how to fix ntdll.dll errors:
You can find information HERE


You can get a replacement ntdll.dll library file from HERE

Downloaded and installed. Can't get it to run, can't uninstall - I can do absolutely NOTHING.
WTF do I do.

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

Most game giveaways are free standing and don't come with an uninstaller. To delete the game go to where it was installed and delete the game folder. That's all you need to do. there is minimal intrusion in the registry. Mainly dealing with the initial download of the zipped file.

Check out the FAQ's thread which I link to in my review above (see comment number 1). You may find information that will enable you to fix the issue that is stopping you from running the game

I played this game a couple of years ago from one of the free game sites, and it is well worth downloading if you like HOG/mystery games -- better than the review suggests -- and the Collectors' Edition offering now means I'll download this and play it again! Enjoy!

Thanks, Immanitas, GGOTD, and Whiterabbit for your review (hope you had a great Christmas, Stephen) :-)

Hi, this was last week's game:

"If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums; in the game discussion section, because I cannot moderate 24hrs a day over the weekend. I’ve created a thread HERE for that purpose. If you’ve installed Call of the Ages but it"

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

Parts of the above review are copied over from previous revies, i.e. the headings to sections such as installation, introduction, video etc. Saves me having to type out the same things every week. Sometimes, especially when I've got lots of other things to do, I don't proof read the final draft and things that should have been edited are missed. Thanks for pointing the mistake out, it's now been corrected. Thanks for reading. :)

Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond - Collector`s Edition:

In Brief:

A basic Hidden Object Game with mini games. If you are interested in getting a permanent registered version of this game Steam have it onb sale for 70% off (£2.09p). Though I'm not sure if it's the collectors version. for

Installation:


Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond downloads to a 340 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup activation 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. This file may case 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 installed game is 1.07 GB in size and is installed via the following path.



C:\Program Files (x86)\Demon Hunter\DemonHunter_ChroniclesfromBeyond_CE

or

C:\Program Files (x86)\Demon Hunter\DemonHunter_ChroniclesfromBeyond_CE_with_cheats

Check the box during installation to get a desktop shortcut installed. Once installed you can delete the giveaway setup files. I've only tested the game on Win 8.1 and Win 10 and it works on both platforms.

Developers Introduction:

Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond is a thrilling tale set in 1930s America. The game tells the story of Dawn Harlock, an unusual red-eyed woman, who must return to her family estate on Iowa Island to investigate the mysterious death of her mentor, Professor Ashmore. It’s not long before Dawn discovers traces of horrifying experiments and has to come face to face with an ancient evil from another world.

During the investigation, our protagonist begins to suspect that someone, or something, has crossed over into our world from another dimension and that her own mysterious past plays a large role in these disturbing events.

Dawn will have to unearth the secrets lurking within a gloomy mansion, unravel the mystery of a grotesque experiment and find out what really happened all those years ago, when Professor Ashmore found her wandering aimlessly across the island.
Will Dawn’s true identity prove to be the key to defeating the ancient evil from another dimension?

Reference accessed HERE 25th Dec 2015




Reviews:


You can see some Big Fish mini reviews HERE and forum discussions HERE

The Game:

Initially, Demon Hunter seems like a B-grade HOPA judging from its sub-par opening cutscene; but then, it gets much better. We do agree that the visual quality is not amongst the best as the graphics can be too dark and grainy at times, maybe a little cartoony as well. Still, we cannot deny that all of the locations are very attractive, the artwork is surprisingly beautiful and the hidden object scenes are very detailed. The music remains quiet most of the times, it is peaceful and relaxing - the voice overs are fine too.

The story in Demon Hunter is pretty weak; it starts out with a lot of promise but it turns shallow after that. This goes the same with the gameplay, although well-built; it is very predictable and not revolutionary by any means. The hidden object scenes are classics and some of the puzzles are challenging while most of them are not very original.

Demon Hunter is a Standard Edition game which is honestly much better than most of the weak CE games in recent memories. The developer is so generous that the game even contains a whole lot of Collector's Edition worthy extras such as Wallpapers, Concept Art, Soundtracks, Achievements, Collectibles, replayable Hiden Objects and Puzzles as well as a 1-hour Bonus Chapter in addition to its solid 5-hour main game length.

The game is simple yet entertaining, unoriginal yet intriguing - Demon Hunter is unexplainable captivating.

Features:

41 hand-drawn locations scattered throughout a mysterious island!
29 varied minigames!
21 engrossing scenes containing hidden objects!
An enthralling story that will have your imagination running wild!
28 exciting achievements to unlock!
A mesmerizing score and stunning wallpapers!

Edited reference accessed HERE Dec 25th 2015


Video:

You’ll find videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. (scuze the banner adverts that pop up on the bottom of the videos).

System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8
CPU: 1.0 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
DirectX: 9.0
Hard Drive: 1452 MB



Conclusion:



I’d give this game 7 out of 10 for family fun. The hidden Objects are nothing special, but I found the game play interesting and diverse enough to stick at playing the game for over an hour last night. Well worth downloading. This was the first games created by Brave Giant LTD. Later games are much improved on the original formula. Be sure to check out the installed games folder as there are two executable files installed, but only one shortcut created. The second executable includes cheats.



Scoring

Gameplay – 7.5
Graphics – 7
Audio – 7
Re-playability – 7
Originality – 6.5

Total = 35 out of 50 = 7 out of 10

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Problems:


If you have any problems installing or getting Demon Hunter: Chronicles from Beyond working, please go HERE for help. I've posted most of the common problems and solutions in a FAQ thread, which you can find in the sticky section of the forums by following the above link.

If you think the game is infected - IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

For those of you who are getting hits by your anti malware suites; it's because they are picking up the Themida based protection, which was put in place to protect the game from unscrupulous community members that were hacking the giveaway wrapper which then gave them unlimited access to a registered copy of the game, which was being put on peer to peer sites. Some community members were even uploading video tutorials on You tube telling you how to do it yourself.

Themida based applications are sometimes seen as a threat by anti-malware. I can assure you this game and hundreds before, that have given community members cause for concern have been totally safe. The game giveaway team have managed to secure well over a thousand games for us since they first started giving away games back in late 2006; firstly via the main site (Oct 2006), then via the game giveaway site (early December 2006). There has never 'ever' been an infected game given away.

If you are able to configure your anti-malware suite to allow the 'seemingly offensive' file through security, the game should then install normally. if you can't, or don't know how to, then the other way would be to temporarily turn off your protection. You do so at your own risk, but please do take into account what I've already said above; in a nut shell, every malware occurrence reported here since the game giveaway went live in Dec 2006 have been false positives due to overly sensitive anti-malware suites.

It would be against the giveaway teams best interest to allow such an occurrence as it would destroy their good standing with the big search engines and I'm sure many who have frequented this site for a long time would leave. The giveaway team use several anti-malware suites to test every game given away here.


Another thing to consider when you think the game is infected, if it really was, there would be hundreds of community members posting about the infection; we rarely more than a few posts for any particular game; though, since the gcd file that contains the Themida code was introduced in 2012 I have seen many more community members reporting infections due to the Themida based code found in the giveaways wrapper protection. However, out of the thousands of downloads each week, those numbers are insignificant and supports the fact that the results they are getting are actually false positives. They have always been proven to be so.

If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums; in the game discussion section, because I cannot moderate 24hrs a day over the weekend. I've created a thread HERE for that purpose. If you've installed today's game but it doesn’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at a later date. Unfortunately if your problem is actually downloading it, once the giveaway deadline is reached you will no longer be able to download the game unless you've already started downloading it before the cut-off. Sometimes you can still register the game after the giveaway has ended so long as you managed to start the download before the giveaway ends. I've tested this and the grace period lasts for up to 1 hour. Apart from the above instances; i.e. already installed, but having problems running the game, (with the possibility of receiving help from the community via the giveawayoftheday game discussion forum); or still downloading after the cut off period, but within the 1 hour grace period, or registering within an hour of the cut-off period. Once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done to get the game (unless its available from one of the free game sites) until the game is given away again (though that isn't always guaranteed).

It's worth checking the giveaway game discussion forums the day before the giveaways go live to see if we are getting a large sized file (I usually post a comment about approximately how large a file is, though if I'm particularly busy I may neglect to do this). It is especially important for those who have slow connections and even more so if the game is popular. We can have up to forty thousand (40 000) community members downloading over the 24 hour period, with the bulk of community members downloading in the first 12 hours of the giveaway going live, there is always a massive strain on the giveaway servers. The bigger the file size, the more community members will be downloading at any one time. Because the bandwidth is shared equally among all community members, downloads can become excruciatingly slow, so if you do have a slow connection, its important to start your download as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Because these games are free, the giveaway owners cannot invest in more bandwidth without compromising the whole project, so we have to be satisfied with what we have at present.

A download manager can help speed the download up and also protect the download in case of an interruption. There's nothing as frustrating for those with really slow connections to have the connection break after an hour or so, then have to start from the beginning again. I would ask community members if you do have decent bandwidth please avoid using a manager as it does add to the number of downloads occurring at any one time, for example some download managers will download your requested file in up to 32 packets simultaneously, that will take 32 download spots, thus slowing down everyone else's download speeds. For those with slow downloads (due to having a slow connection e.g. a 2MB Broadband connection or less) I would advise using a download manager if the file is larger than around 200MB. My broadband connection is 100MBs, so I don't need to use a download manager, (I do have one called Internet Download Manager, but don't use it when downloading files from the giveaway site). For me a 1GB file usually downloads in about 1.5 minutes or less. My connection is quite a long way from the provider so it is slowed a little, but is still quite good at a download speed of around 12 to 14 MB's per second.

I hope the above goes some way in explaining why we sometimes have really slow downloads.







It’s always worth checking out the free games sites because sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them. MyPlayCity (MPC) has the most with over 1000 games to choose from and Toomky Games is highly recommended. Todays game isn't available from any of the free games sites I check at this time, but you can get 70% off via the Steam sale.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/330990/

If you do download any games from these free game sites please 'do' watch out for toolbars etc. Make sure you un-check the check-boxes during installation, and, in the case of MyPlayCity, every time you boot the game up, (this may have changed now as these free game sites tend to change the format frequently)....... I've posted links to all of the common free game sites below in the games, games and yet more games section. If you do download a game from any of these sites you do so at your own risk. We cannot be held responsible for problems arising from an installation recommended here. :)


For now I won't be recommending you download games from Jenkat Games. They have changed the way you get games from their site and until someone informs me that they have reverted to their original download schemes I won't be recommending downloads from them. Diane has posted information about this over in the game discussion forums. TooMyk Games are now safe to download from. They have removed the games that were suspect and have cleaned up their act. As always, you download from those free game sites at your own risk. The gamegiveaway site is the safest site I know of where you can get free software (BitsduJour is also great for free applications) and games. The only disadvantages with downloading from here is you have to download and install within the day of the giveaway (apart from the instances mentioned above and if and when you upgrade or buy a new computer legally you aren't allowed to transfer games given away previously, unless they are being given away on the day you upgrade, or if you've purchased a license. :)

You just have to look at the sites track record since the game giveaway site was created back in December 2006. No games given away here since the inception of the gamegiveaway site have been infected with malware, there are no toolbars installed, nor home pages hijacked or browsers changed. There is one slight annoyance, but that only occurs if a community member isn't paying attention; i.e. when the final window pops up after installing a giveaway, called 'the Software Informer' installation window. Some community members have complained that they were given no choice in its installation. That is not true; when the final window pops up, there are two buttons, one asking if you want Software Informer installed and the button to close the giveaway window down. Some community members have clicked on the wrong button, probably because they weren't paying attention. Thankfully Software Informer is a genuine application, that can easily be uninstalled by the usual means. It's actually a useful piece of software, especially if you have a lot of applications running on your computer. Basically the program will list the programs that need updating, or programs that have available updates. They wont be automatically installed (thus cancelling many giveaway registrations); you have to click on individual buttons to update each program/application. :D

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Games, Games, and yet more Games:


The Christmas Sale is on over on Steam, with over ten thousand titles (including dlc's) on sale Gamersgate Summer Sale. I won't even bother to list any of the games, but it should be worth visiting as there are games for all tastes. Of course you do need to install the Steam client, but IMO it is well worth it. There are lots of free games (not just free to play online games) available plus there are always games on sale.




You'll also find some excellent deals over on the following Game sites.

GreenManGaming They usually have coupons to the value of 23% and sometimes more off pre ordered games. I've just pre ordered Just Cause 3 XL and XCOM 2 using a voucher and saved £22 on the price paid in the Steam store
Gamersgate Summer Sale
GOG (DRM free games)
Gamestop
GameFly (soon to be sold off)

I've removed the Desura link because the owners are bankrupt and there has been no activity on the site in months. The servers are still live (at least until Bad JoJo's subscription to the servers has ended, Bad JoJo are the owners of Desura and Indie Royale, or were until filing for bankruptcy). If you own any games via Desura I advise downloading all of the drm free games you have on that platform and on the Indie Royale site before the sites are taken down.




Free Game Sites:

Toomky Games
MyPlayCity (over a 1000 games to choose from)
Gametop
FreeGamePick



To be honest there are too many game deals around too list them all. Just visit the sites I recommend above and I'm sure you'll find something that suits you for a very decent price. If like me you prefer Steamworks games, many of the above sites also sell steamwork games.

If that's not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals such as the Indie Game bundles (there's over 20 of them - If you purchased all of them you'd be paying around $80 for around a thousand dollars worth of games); or check out the four day sales at IndieGameStand. you'll find the indie bundles thread HERE. The thread is outdated, but all of the links will still take you to the latest bundles.






The latest IndieGameStand game is Dead Effect (by Immanitas Entertainment - who have given us quite a lot of games over the last year)

Fight for your life in the INDIE SCI-FI FPS game fit for both casual and hard-core gamers with a passion for hunting down hordes of zombies. Prepare yourselves for the incoming nightmare!

The ESS Meridian starship is travelling through space with a new FTL technology, heading towards its destination -Tau Cetif, the first planet in the history of mankind to be colonized. A few months later an elite member of Unit 13 is disrupted from cryogenic sleep. But Tau Cetif is nowhere in sight and something is very wrong. What happened to all those people? Why are they so aggressive and attack without any survival instincts?

You can get the game for $1; pay over the average to get two more games Frozen Hearth and Rush for Glory. (The price at the time of writing was $2.38. It rarely goes above $2 unless the bonus content includes a second or third game).
The deal ends Monday 28th Dec 2015 5am (GMT)



The latest DIG game is Nightmares from the Deep 3: Davy Jones

Nightmares form the Deep 3: Davy Jones - get ready for the final chapter of the epic pirate trilogy! Become a fearless museum custodian Sara Black to face your greatest enemy, the legendary pirate Davy Jones. Discover his greatest secret and save your daughter!
After a series of mysterious notes give Sara the evidence she needs to prove to the world the existence of the historical figure of Davy Jones, she calls a press conference to reveal what she has learned; that both Davy Jones and his mythical treasure are real, hidden away on a cursed island.
Suddenly Davy Jones's sails appear on the horizon, and the undead pirate enters the museum to kidnap Sara and her daughter.
They are taken to the hold of Jones's ship. In order to save her mother, Corey Black agrees to sign a dark pact with the Sea Devil himself...
Sara Black must face her hardest task yet: in order to save her daughter from the soul-stealing pact with Davy Jones, she must find a way to cancel it.
Will she succeed? Who is the voodoo witch who lives on the cursed island? Or the brilliant alchemist? Why does the ghost of a beautiful young girl roam Davy Jones's island, and what is her connection to the legend?

Pay £0.99 for the game or you can get two keys if you pay more than the average of $1.01 (at the time of writing ). One Steam key to share with a friend or family member perhaps? You'll find that deal HERE. They also have five bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 each HERE (DIG Bundles 47, 48, 49 & 50 plus reBundle 9 ). You get Steam keys for all of these games.
The single game deal ends just after Midnight Sunday 27th December 2015 and will be replaced with a new game.

Most of the bundles available retail for around $5 give or take a few dollars (apart from the Daily Indie bundles that only cost $1.49 for six games), but you can pay as little as a dollar for some. There are some excellent bundles out at the moment. I highly recommend the first four sites as they regularly change their bundles, at least weekly. Bundle Stars is the most prolific, usually with at least 10 bundles, but sometimes a lot more. some bundles stay for months, others for only a few days. I also recommend buying the Greenlight bundles as you will get quite a few being greenlit and save a large amount of money on newly released games. I reckon at least 75% of the games from those bundles have been Greenlit since I purchased my first Greenlight bundle. (I've bought at least 50 bundles with only Greenlight games and they have never cost more than $3 to $4 per bundle, with savings up to 90%. The flying bundle is the only one that will inform you when a game has been Greenlit and will send you your Steam keys, the rest you have to check your accounts page to see if they have added Steam keys. sometimes it may take several weeks after the game has been released before you get your keys, but generally its either the same day or a few days at the most.





Bundle Stars (26 bundles)
Groupees (3 bundles)
Indie Gala (5 bundles)
Humble bundle (2 Bundles)
Indie Royale (this bundle is no longer live)
Bundle Bandits (0 bundles)
Blink Bundle (0 bundles)
Play Injector (0 bundle)
Get Loaded (0 bundles)
Games Rage (0 bundles)
Flying bundle (1 bundles)

FREE GAME:

The free game from Origin is Jade Empire: Special Edition (Highly Recommended).

Step into the role of an aspiring martial-arts master and follow the path of the open palm or the closed fist. In this multi-award-winning action-RPG, your choices and actions will determine the fate of the entire Jade Empire. Will you prevent the destruction of this beautiful land, or will you crush it beneath your heel? Are you a warrior who uses his strength and fighting mastery to bring peace, or will you instead use your power to bring pain and ruin?
The choice is yours.

Game Features:


The Original Award Winning Jade Empire
An incredible, engaging story that makes you the noble hero or the treacherous villain!
A wealth of fascinating characters to interact with.
Beautiful, mysterious lands to explore, discover, and save...or conquer.
A rich blend of role-playing and exciting real-time combat.
New monsters and enemies.
New fighting styles.
Customizable, intuitive controls including support for game-pads and keyboard/mouse.
Increased graphics resolutions and new visual effects.
Improved combat AI and difficulty levels.
New world map interface.

Check it out HERE.


You do need a free Origin account and install the Origin client to get these free games. Once you've installed the Origin client and signed into your account select 'On the house' from the 'Free Games' drop down menu. Then select download now. The game will then be registered to your Origin account permanently.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Request for help:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment, and a big thank you to Immanitas Entertainment for sharing and to the game giveaway team for getting these games.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------