My Girlfriend loves this game, it was an unexpected valentines day gift for her and she keeps playing it again and again after completing it already. I had a friends girlfriend fall in love with it this weekend too and he's going to be buying it for her now also.

Great game and thanks for the unexpected awesome valentines day gift! Keep up the great work!

I had the same problem as #29. When I cleared the screen it started playing up (literally) and the music froze. Then, upon a restart is forgot I actually got to the level I had gotten to. Now I make sure not to clear the screen.
Otherwise, brilliant game :) Thank you.

@54 ~ If you're going to other people (applement) please do it on thier posts not mine.
The link you provided below is for Dr. Mario for the NES, maybe you should look up Dr. Mario for the wii.
http://www.nintendo8.com/game/495/dr._mario/
I say no replay value because all the boards are the same when you replay them, but I guess it does have SOME replay value, as like you said, you don't move the same ways. It's definatly better than tetris, but I'd much rather just play Dr.Mario(for the wii).

(ofcourse I pointed out what someone else did, these are reviews...are you new to moderating?)


------------------------------Moderator comment........................

The post was directed at you and applement. Rather than repeat myself, I wrote my comment under your post rather than applement's - it would have been just as valid there as under yours, - no reason other than convenience. As for moderating. My posts are not just moderation, they are meant to be helpful and give advice,or in the case of your comment, replying. I used to post seperately evertime I needed to answer someones query, but that was very time consuming - you just have to look at the number of comments I make each time there's a game giveawaway.

As for your question about whether I’m new to moderating......................

I’m always familiar with the software that’s being discussed in the comments section, I know the rules of the site, I’m very involved in the giveaway community, spending more hours than most in the forums, chatting to members and helping out where I can, I regularily check the console to ensure moderation is kept up to date (unlike the other side of the giveaway project, where you can wait several hours before a comment is moderated on a weekend), and I also have fun doing the job. In my opinion, these are ideal prerequisites to being a good moderator. Of course you won’t see a lot of what I do because it’s hidden from the communities gaze, however if I have to delete a comment, or edit it because the member has broken a rule, I’ll always try to explain why. ...........................

So what do you think my answer would be to your question? I suspect you have fixed ideas as to what a moderator is supposed to do; thankfully I don't. :lol:

After the game froze at level 23, I restarted as a named player and finished all 42 levels getting "You are winner". I've finished it a few more times since and the gameplay never gets any harder. Very easy to complete and could have done with difficulty levels and/or less bombs. It's much easier than Dr. Mario since adjacent bugs are destroyed without the need for them to be in a threesome also. You can stop the game at any point and your level position is saved.
I'm using XP SP3 and since the first lock-up have had no more trouble.

I think that since you do not get new games every day, you should be able to download these until the next one comes out.

I LOVE this game and would of liked to download it but I was in the hospital.

Geri-Ann

I tried this game out, and it seemed like it would be plenty of fun, but for one problem: The cursor never re-appeared once I started playing. This made it aggravatingly difficult to click the buttons and advance to the next level. I eventually had to alt+f4 quit because I couldn't click the menu button.

The only problem I've had with the game is that it freezes when you completely clear a level. There is no choice but to quit the game.
The game would be better priced between $5 and $10. I think 19.95 is too steep for this type of simple puzzle game.

All is good Stephen.

it is a good game

This game is similar to an old DOS game I've played for years, that is freeware that's called Dr Rudy.
(Luckily my old Windows 95 machine still works well & I use that pc only for playing all the old games that I like.)

Nice to have a similar game that runs on current XP & Vista machines (haven't tried the game on 7 )



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

If you don't mind using DOSBox you can play Dr Rudy on your latest machine and you can get Dr Rudy for free now:

http://www.xtcabandonware.com/index.php?id=327

Response to #63, MrDave

Dude, it might be "false positives". But like I said, you can't just say that Mr. Dave, nothing in this damn world is frigin perfect. Everything has its flaws and you know. For example, Maple Leaf meat products were always #1 but until one day, a bacteria accidentally went on the saw blades and infected a lot of the meat.

Well, I'm always careful, read the comments and check if they are ok or not. In addition, just remember not to download those games from those companies that are "unsafe". For example, on GAOTD they had this "Youtube Downloader" from an "unsafe companies"... that frigin thing changed my IE and Firefox err to be exact, "highjacked" my browsers into fake Google Sites that doesn't even load. It even "recommended" me once to change it back to them once I changed it back to say msn.ca.

Hope that helped. :)

~Joji~

I installed this game and liked it so much I played it all the way through in a couple of hours. There are 42 levels altogether Stephen, not nearly enough! However, as already said, it would be different each time it is played, so I will play it again. No problems at all getting it installed, never saw the speedy pills thank goodness. My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough. (I've got XP Prof on my laptop.)

"the fast dropping pills hit me...had to exit & restart... : ("

I had this problem, too. I found that you need to press the "up" arrow key to slow them back down. I didn't need to restart.

Plus, a quick note about viruses, etc: I've been downloading from here for over 3 years quite regularly and have not gotten a single virus. "Gregory Phoenix" was one of my favorite game downloads from here, and it did nothing to my computer as far as I can tell. And I did check it at the time.

All computers and programs are not exactly alike. One little settings change can cause all kinds of problems until you figure it out, -- if you ever do. Solving these problems can lead you to a better understanding of how computers work, which makes using them much more enjoyable. (At least to me.)

#63. That's funny I have Avira and PC Tools and only Avira picks it up. PC Tools doesn't and yet it says its a Trojan.Generic. I put it down as a false positive.

Two comments -

1) For those who are having problems with games saving stats - I have seen that on various games all over the board using Vista. The solution is usually to run in admin mode. It seems like the program is not being allowed to write to the stat file. This is most likely the case if the program is installed into Program Files. It's not seen as often outside this area.

2) MrDave (#63) - I also had Avira report that file out of the blue the other day. However, I found that file is not needed. Change the shortcut to point to GregoryPhoenix.exe and it should work fine. I have filed a false positive on it with Avira and I'm waiting for the results. In the time being, I have zipped the file (I told Avira to ignore zips) rather than put it in the exception list. The game is still playable. I think it's strange for the file to be reported now after all this time.

I also think that your post (and this part of my response) should be moved to the regular forum instead of these comments.

Avira Antivirus found a virus in the file "GetFullVersion.exe" included with GAOTD's distribution of the Gregory Phoenix game a few weeks ago. I sent the file to VirusTotal.com where over 60% of the scanners said the file is infected, one of the highest rates I've ever seen. GAOTD is once again trying to put malware on my PC. Since I can't trust GAOTD, it's just not worth the risk. Thanks for almost two years of occaisionally good stuff, but this is goodbye. Whiterabbit, Ashraf, Bubby and others, I'll miss your comments and help.

XPSP2, MCE, 32

download, extract, activation module connected, brought me to the GGOTD site, install…no problem…

game…full version again today…no problem…

this one also kept requesting direct disk access, & i kept blocking it…ran fine without...until...

the fast dropping pills hit me...had to exit & restart... : (

then the problem @#28, TomDickHarri had hit me...had to exit & restart...and my game was also wiped out... : (

to the developer:

"Alchemy Mahjong" gave me a 60 minute trial..."Fairy Arkanoid" originally was fine, then on start-up my game was not saved (since then, it alternates between saved & not)..."Dr.Pills" i described above...i had the same download/install, etc., routine for each...

not an expert here (at all), but i do wonder why a game requires direct disk access & if my blocking it is the cause of the problems?...and if other community members security programs are blocking it as well, and causing their problems?...

"Fairy Arkanoid" would have been perfect for my friends kid...how am i supposed to recommend it while saying "well...you may have to turn off your security software...and it may still not save your game...or it may crash..."?...

"Dr.Pills" was something i'd enjoy, but won't buy with the problems i'm experiencing...

the prior two giveaways had comments that indicated that there was some type of copy protection with the game (the "monitor program" problem)...copy protection is understandable, but if that is what is interfering with your games running properly, my guess is you & your customers/potential customers will continue experiencing problems & headaches...

Whiterabbit has installed the games on a variety of systems without any problem...i hope you can sort things out & find a fix that both works for everyone & protects your interests...

sorry for the length there...my six cents today...lol...

@Whiterabbit: thank you again for your work...and thank your Valentine for sharing you with us today...
: )

@several others: i'll have to look for "Dr.Mario" for my DSi...thank you all...
: D

#28 & #38
exactly the same has happened to me, clear all the bugs etc off the screen and unreadable writing below, only way is to quit game, sad face. Hope the developer can fix the bug in the bug, theres food for thought. Thanks anyway GGOTD keep up the good work and I will still look forward to next weekends offerings.

Hi ... I followed the steps in the read-me, but along the way, after clicking on 'activate', a virus-warning pop-up appeared from out of no where ... it was not from any of my security program, would not stop and ad no choice but to shut system completely off! Running a full-scan as we speak, upset about this little 'addition' to the game download.

Concerning the requirements: I was able to install and run this on Windows 2000 with an 800 MHz processor and 320 MB ram. It's probably running slower than it's supposed to, but that works out better for me anyway since I'm a little slow and underpowered myself. :)

I enjoyed playing it. I did a Google search earlier for Dr. Mario clones, and found only a few good free ones. That's why I decided to go ahead and download this. It's a keeper for me. Thanks Gambana and GGOTD.

#56 try manually deleting the drpills folder. make sure the zip is unzipped into own folder. then activate install without running. activate

#55 #56 it should go into black screen and come up full screen with run at this point. should NOT see the 60 min play screen at all.

w7 maybe not.

For #33, thats exactly what I did and still no go.

Waaaaaahh!!!!

Downloaded and activated fine.

Play? Not so much.

Since buying a nice new 64-bit W7 machine about three months ago, I've downloaded about a dozen (freebie) games, at least half from GGOTD, mostly puzzle games of various kinds.

This is maybe the fourth that I could not get to work at all. I don't think any of the others worked without tweaks, mostly compatibility mode and changing from "full screen" to "windowed".

I'm seeing the "60 minute" opening, but "play" crashes my system no matter what work-arounds I try.

Right now the posting here that looks best is the thumbs up for the uninstall ...

A nice game, but fairly easy. I'm about half way in and still waiting for it to pick up in difficulty.

Another disappointing game from Gambana. Not only is it a Direct rip off of Dr. Mario(if this game is released you can bet Nintendo will shut it down right away) it's only about an hour or two long(depending how well you play) and it has glitches. One I noticed in the first level is the pill acceleration at random times. Atleast this game saves your progress, unlike past Gambana games.

The game was entertaining for the hour it took me to complete it, it has no replay value and the end screen glitches. Classic Gambana. I found no viruses in this Gambana game(so far) and it worked fine on Windows XP home, on an old computer.

I seriously hope Gambana gets better or stops producing games.


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

Hi Applement/ Xavia, I think Gambana are associated with Double Games which, if you are a long time game giveaway supporter, you'll remember gave use a whole load of sub standard games. I do think som of their games have actually been okay, ad although I don't particularily like Tetris games I do think this game does have replayability simply becasue on replaying it you don't get the same pills ad i's unlikely you make the same moves, so each time you play it can be completed in a different way. That said I checked the Dr Mario game and have to agree with you. Thegame is basically the same with some minor modifications by Gambana/double games. However most arcade games are copies of each other. I do think the PC version looks much better and I would much rather play it than the Nintendo version. Thanks for pointing it out; though someone else (I think Wolverine) said as much earlier today.

Here's a link to a browser version of Dr Mario:

http://www.nintendo8.com/game/495/dr._mario/

Downloaded and installed on Vista 64 bit home, just fine ! Played 1st level - this one looks like lots of good fun ! Thanks GGAOTD !

Thank you Chris, this is the best tip, I think it will work on all the games giveaways. It is something no one else has mentioned.

Thank you number 33, your hints worked for me.

Content deleted

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


Please do not post registry entries for giveaways in the comments section or the forums.

The game installed fine on Vista. I ran into the speed-up problem, too, but was able to correct it by turning off 3D acceleration and hints. Thanks for that tip, WhiteRabbit, and to Gambana for the game offer.

Question, is this game portable?

Will it work on my USB and still be useable without turning back to trial? Please reply. :)

~Joji~


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

Hi Joji, I'm not allowed to say directly. But I can say most game giveaways tend to be free standing.

Response from john #31,

Wow quite a tirade Stephen. I respect what you do here so I won't get into a discussion I couldn't win no matter what proof I would have.

I respectfully disagree with you and I will leave it at that. I didn't think my comments were inflammatory. I stated a fact that happened to me. I can't say it happened to anyone else. I am sure that GOTD checks the software they are going to offer. They would be crazy not too. I do believe things slip by once in awhile.

You do a good job here and I won't bother bringing up anything negative about anything I encounter any more. I guess the game site should just reflect peoples positive experiences. I will just keep any bad experiences to myself, if any, from now on.

Have yourself a good day.
John


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

Hi John, As I said there was no disrespect meant in my answer to your post above. I wouldn't call it a tirade either, just an explanation of why I think you are wrong. I've downloaded virtually every game that the game giveaway team jhave given away (though not kept them all) and have never encountered any problems with any of them. Surely if Monkey towers was infected we would have got a lot of complaints. There were no compalaints whatsoever.

As for not posting anything negative. Please don't feel you shouldn't. If you've got a problem you should post as such in the comments section. That's what they are there for. And again, please don't take what I said personally. It wasn't meant to be a personal attack.

Nice game. Had no problem activating and installing this. Thank you GGAOTD team and Gambana.

BTW I can not believe comment # 23 happier person. Or was that supposed to be a joke?

third time it worked (at least i didnt get the activate 60 min screen) ... that is a real hassle ! i hard deleted dr pills folder since my settings remove programs was acting up.

For all that has had trouble getting this game, please try this. After downloading the game, right click on the activate icon, then "run". Then right click on the activate icon again and then "extract all". Then click on "set up". Good luck, this worked for me!

in the past all i had to do i install and activate. this is getting ridiculous. there is no uninstall just a dr pils start .


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

You'll find an uninstall link in the Start Menu/ Programs list.

i activated installed activated but it still comes up as a 60 minute play ...
WHAT IS THE CODE ???




..................Miderator Comment..............

Sorry nogard0, we cannot post registration codes here in the comments section. A few community members seem to be having the same problem. I cannot advise on what is wrong. Read my comments made to other members. One of those suggestions may help.

Works fine in Win 7 32 bit.

both issues I mentioned were repeatable and occurred on multiple levels


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

Thanks jambajus, lets hope the developers take note and then give us the final version with at least twice the number of levels. :)

This game has two recurring issues. Both of which have been noted by other players.
1. Randomly, the falling pills go into hyperspeed. This can be reversed by clicking the pause button, upon restoring, the speed will be normal.
2. If all pills and bugs are cleared from the screen, text that is cut off even in full screen mode, appears at the bottom of the screen, with only the top 1/4 of the text showing. The game freezes, no buttons can be pushed, and can only be shutdown through control panel end task. The game is not saved, and must begin again from level 1.
Definitely a beta version not ready for distribution.
I'm running WinXP SP3, w/2Gb ram, and the latest drivers.

I'm having trouble with a game from Gambana called Alchemy Mahjong. I really like the game but I've stopped playing it because my progress is never saved. No matter what I do when I return to play more of the game I have to start at the beginning again. Does anyone have a solution to this problem? And is this a problem with Gambana games sometimes? Thanks.


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

A few community members said they had the same problem, but generally most were able to save their progress. Check out some of the other games I linked to on that day. You'll find loads of decent Breakouts over at Caiman, via the free games synopsis and the arkanoids thread, both of which can be found in the forums, finally theres a good selection of excellent breakuts that in my opinion are much better than Fairy Arkanoid available from Gametop. See my first post in the Fairy Arkanoid comments sectipn for lnks.

I have downloaded this twice but it will not open.

Runs fine, BUT really don't like the pills etc having a mind of their own and shifting left or right at unpredictable times, spoils the fun and makes it way too difficult! Would also prefer the mouse buttons reversed, ie left to rotate, right to speed drop!

It's the user interface, having to use left hand for arrow keys that's the biggest problem, with the mouse close by in the right hand - Ugh!!



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

I'm left handed, so it's ideal for me. :lol:

After playing a few levels I have learned that this game is just to much like tetris for me. I never got into tetris that much. I guess I just wasn't good at it so I never played it. That being said, it looks like a good game for those that like this genre.

BTW, despite being short of the CPU requirement (2 ghz) this game played well on my machine (1.7 ghz).

:!: For those getting the 60 minute trial version..

What I have had to do in the past to install the game is to
1st - activate
2nd - set-up (install)
3rd - activate again.

Also, don't launch the game from the install process, after installing, close everything and launch the game from the game icon.

I hope this helps :!: :)



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

That's exacty what I do :lol:

Sweet! Ok Win 7 Ultimate x32. iCore 7 6mb ram. Clean install.
Turned down music. Left on all the checked boxes for hints & 3D, etc.
and no issues. Run activate file first. Nice variation on a sort
of Teris/Match 3 theme. Colorful graphics. Will keep. Didn't keep
yesterday's game. Just played first level of Dr. Phil (sic). Thanks.

I wanted to download this game but am a little leary of Gambana products. This stems from when I downloaded Monkey Tower and it contained a trojan. I am vigilante about my computer security and there is no doubt in my mind that the trojan came from MONKEY TOWER.
I know it is said repeatedly that GOTD checks all software but if you see how many times people are infected by products they get on both GOTD site and here in games you will see that it really happens.
Too bad because this game looked like fun.


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


I don't mean to give offence by the comment below, but there are thousands of downloads from the giveaway site every day and well over a thousand from the game site. Yes, the giveaway team rigorously tests the programs that are being given away. When there are the odd comment about there being a virus or Trojan or other malware alert, its always a false positive. If there really was any malware in any giveaway there would be a lot more people posting about it. The fact that there are only ever a few complaints each time goes to show that its an over sensitive security system that someone has installed and not configured correctly.

The giveaway project owners cannot afford to make the mistake of giving away a program that has a virus or other malware attached because they would lose the reputation that they have. Post a string of words in the comments section of any giveaway and I guarantee 99% that the string will be found by all of the major search engines. The reason is that the giveaway name has a vey high standing with the search engines because they are known to be clean.

There was a period two years ago when McAfee Site Advisor labeled the giveaway site red because for just a few days a program added to the freeware library was found to have a real computer virus, not an imagined one due to a badly set security protocol. The said program was removed immediately; yet the site continued to be marked red for several months.

You say you got a game called Monkey Tower from the game giveaway project that definitely had a Trojan. That's very strange. I just checked all the comments from that giveaway and not one person reported a problem. I would honestly think that of the thousand plus people that downloaded that, game many would have posted complaints if they had got a malware problem with it. It's more likely that you picked up the Trojan from somewhere else and blamed the game for it.


If you decide not to download any more games from the game giveaway project that's your prerogative 'and loss', but please don't go accusing the project of infecting your computer when its clear to see all the giveaways are as clean as a whistle.

If there really had been a Trojan I would be the first to stand behind you. I'm doing this 'job' for no pay, so I don't really hold any allegiance to the giveaway project, but I do find it distasteful when the project is being accused of something with no evidence whatsoever to back the claim up.

Aren't we supposed to get the game of the day for free on the weekend? Why has Dr. Pills expired after one hour? Thanks.

P.S. (I too experienced the pill avalanche described above and could find no other solution than to start again as another player.)


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

Did you follow the instructions found in the read me, i.e. activate first then install the game (if you have vista installing under Admin) and are still not getting a registered game I cannot explain why. I've installed the game to two XP Pro with SP3, one laptop with Vista home basic and one PC with Vista Home premium and the game is registered on all four computers.

Well I had the same problem as others with activation. So I uninstalled the program completely and then ran activate under admin and setup under admin. And now it works. It even remembered that I was at level 2.
Oh, Win 7 x64 FWIW.

Got to level 23 with a score of 2300. On clearing the screen, the game froze. There was some wording vibrating at the foot of the screen but could only see the top of it (perhaps it's visible in full screen mode?). None of the options (Menu, Help, Options, Pause) worked so the only thing I could do was close the game window. On resumption, I'm back at the beginning again. Don't feel inclined to continue; wondering if I can ever finish it or whether it will always crash at some point.