Runs nice and smooth on my Win 7 x64 pro setup. Highly addictive. Been playing this everyday since it was offered. Music is unobtrusive but enjoyable, graphics are lovely and crisp and the gameplay compelling enough to get you onto the next level. I've got a fair sized city now but still want more - but I won't be taking the offer of the free wallpapers :D

A few things -
a. Would have loved to see which level I am on when playing - especially since I can't seem to get the 30 levels of hero designation.
b. Would love to be able to play the level again without quitting.
c. Would love to be able to choose the hero rather than having one picked by the game.
d. Would love to have the points clearly displayed so that I don't have to go to "Build" before I can see how many points I need to build the monuments.

I just finished playing Heroes of Hellas 2: Olympia. FANTASTIC GAME. I play many March3 games, but this one give me many challenges and I just adored it.
I would play every day. I was a bit sad to find out that I had reached the end. I would of loved to have some other levels with more adventures. Thanks for this Free Game Giveaway. I really enjoyed it and recomment it to everyone.
Johanne

oops! my mistake! I did mean I agreed with you, not Immerdasselbe. :)

I had big problems with this game stopping for seconds, some screens taking 30 seconds to slowly change from one scene to the next, and complete crashes. I suspected my old video card so I removed the up to date drivers and replaced them with the drivers I got with the card 6 years ago, and now it works perfectly. Just goes to show that "update your drivers" isn't always the answer to problems. :)

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

Good point Martin, I'll amend the FAQ to include instructions on rolling back to earlier drivers or dowwnloading earlier drivers for older cards. Thanks. :)

p.s. glad you sorted the problem as this game is well worth havingin your game library compared to a lot of match threes we get.

I totally agree with you, Immerdasselbe. Not all Match 3 games are the same, or even close. This one is really good! I also love match 3 games. I like the storyline, matching and the puzzles in this game. Thanks for offering it!!

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


:) Hi Jdb, Immerdasselbe was actually saying all Match threes were the same and not worth installing. I posted a reply under moderator /comment to say what he was saying wasn't true. :D

Just wanted to add to previous comment that now that I've played a bit more (still fairly early) this is really turning out to be one of the better ones! I like the little touches that make this more than a match 3. Only nit is that the one HOG mini-game I've done seemed quite capricious---some of the pieces were REALLY invisible. I like the challenge to be hard, but not impossible, and hate using hints, but had to quite a bit on this one. And once the hint showed where to click, I still couldn't see the piece, though clicking worked.

Other than that, definitely a thumbs-up. Also just wanted to mention I'm enjoying the WeatherLord game from the previous weekend a lot. Thanks.

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


Thanks for your feedback Hecate, sorry for the late moderation. Was really busy yesterdayu morning, then forgot to check backl for late posters till now (Tuesday morning):)

Besides being a great game, this Ggotd was super easy to install. I wish I could say that about the gotd of yesterday. That filemanager. 24 hours later I'm still trying to install that. Perhaps that will take a fortnight. The comments say "keep trying".

My experiences with these Alawar games is they always work on my W7 pc. Cheers.

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


Scuze the late moderation. :)

About playcity, if you go to your "temp" folder you can find the install program with exe1 extension, save it as an exe, then uninstall the playcity installation, the executable will then let you install where you want. It'll still identify as a playcity game, but with less auto-garbage.

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


:)

I agree! Very addictive!

Great game! I actually didn't mind the "canned" building because of the cute animation that goes on. I'm glad I tried it even though it sounded a little iffy: I don't usually like watching buildings go up except in time management games. The only thing that I am having trouble with is some of the mini-games that only have a few pieces and you have to get them "just right" to win. I ended up skipping a lot of those. The bigger games get harder as you go on (expected) so I had to replay a lot of those. However, with more pieces to go with, those ones I can figure out a way eventually.

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


Thanks for your feedback Therese :)

Hi Stephen,

My husband has been having a real bad day since early this morning, but in between I got this downloaded and played a bit. Don't have time to comment on pluses and minuses, but it's a keeper for me. I also want to say that I liked yesterday's game and don't know why it's getting so many negative comments.

Cara in NC

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

Hi Cara, I hope your husband is okay? Have a better week :)

OK, All I can say is I hate you!
I downloaded this game this morning and can describe it in one word, ADDICTING!!!
I spent the entire day playing it and finally completed it.
2 thumbs up!

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

:)

I played several rounds. Very good game. I also want an option to replay a level.

Intalls that want to go to existing folders, as this apparently does (I already have the game so I didn't get it) are not caused by cookies. It's the method of install that keeps track of where it installed using that same method before. That's usually your last game using that install method.

This is usually a self-extracting compressed file (I think this is a rar).

Just change the pointer and go on. The next time you get one of these, be prepared to change it again.

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

Thanks Diane. :)

Hi!

This has great improvements over the other, which I had completed!! I liked the first and this is great!
The addition of more moving graphics and they seem improved also is terrific! Went through a few levels fast,
but chose the easy mode. Will change to more difficult soon.
Thanks for another great game!
Lee

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

:)

I tried that, even had the firewall closed through the processes menu in Task Manager to not even appear to be working - Still get the same message.
It should be noted I downloaded many games before but It's the only time I encounter such a problem. Also worth noting the setup seems to be taking much more time to load (from when I double click the exe and until it actually shows) then usually - So it might be something changed in the wrapper that only seem to affect my system (WInXp SP3).

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

Did you try checking the event log immediately after trying to install? Sometimes you can find out why the game isn't installing via the messages left in the event log. Just type event viewer in the search field; that will open up the viewer, then check the logs. It may be something you are running in the background that is conflicting with the giveaway wrapper, but thats just a suggestion.

I see that now, WR; thanks! A few suggestions now that I've played a bit more:
1. The intro story plays each time you start the game; yes, you can just click close, but it shouldn't play if you're just continuing a game, since you've seen it before.
2. On a related note, unusually, when you click 'play' it asks if you want to continue your old game or start a new one. It would be better if 'play' just continues your old game, and they add an option to 'start a new game', the way most games do, since the vast majority of people are going to want to continue their game.

So far, fun!

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

:)

Good one! Windows 8.1 x64 Pro. Nice play. 3 levels difficulty helps. Only minor nit was made shortcut, ran, played a bit, exit. Wouldn't rerun even after reboot PC. Deleted folder on D drive. Reinstalled. Been ok after that. 7.5, 8.5 fans. Thanks GOTD.

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

:)

Thanks for the help. I also got “Failed to connect. Please try again later.” So I saw your solution and it worked. I enjoy the Match 3 games. Great time killer. Thanks again WhiteRabbit and GOTD!!!

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

:)

Thanks for this game that I had on my list to look for. Yesterday I was away, but I see I already have yesterday's game. Mahjong and Match-3 games are my favorites, not only because I simply like them best, but I believe that playing them actually helps keep my mind sharp as I'm growing older. (That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.) Thanks again Alawar, GGOTD and Stephen.

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

:)

Two days and two very playable games. Thank you games giveaway of the day.

I personally love the match 3 games but i struggle with the inner games where you have to search for parts.. wish there was a option to just close them and go on... so thank you Delilah for the spoiler :) I never download any of the games without reading White Rabbits reviews..Thank you both and I hope you have a wonderful day..

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

Thanks Debbie :)

Very enjoyable match 3. I would like to see an option to replay previous levels.

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

Good idea :)

Well I re downloaded, unpacked, started the "new" setup again... and got the same message.
I now rebooted my router and diss-connected and reconnected my network cable. still getting the same message.

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

Other possibilities are that you security software may be blocking it. Aee if you can configure your security software to allow the game to be installed by making an exception, or temporarily turn off the secxurity while you install the game. Although not recommended, it's highly unlikely that today's game will cause problems. Once the game is installed you then turn your security software back on.

Ok, I read there and trying to re download. Should note that yesterdays game worked just fine and I didn't change anything regarding my router and whatnot, nor in terms of my computer firewall and such.

I tend to avoid any games that have match 3, don't like them, find them rather boring. Thanks GOTD, but I will be skipping this one.

Downloaded just fine, but when I start the setup it says
"Failed to connect. Please try again later." :/ Is the giveawayoftheday authentication server down atm?

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

Ariel, no the server is fine. check the FAQ's section that i link to via my review (see comment number 1) and look in the problems section. there are some FAQ's thta cover the problem you are experiencing. If you still don't solve it after trying eveything suggested, please post again and I'll try and give you more help.

I already have the games from both yesterday and today and I really like them both a lot! I love match 3 games and I especially like games that let you build or decorate something. :D

I guess there are people who will complain about something no matter how good it is because everyone just has different tastes.

I don't see the point in complaining about the games given away here that are not my style because there are lots of other people who do like them so I just wait till there's one I like and get that one.

I think complaints should be saved for the few games that are honestly not very good - most of the games that are given away here don't deserve some of the negative comments that are given in my opinion.

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

Thanks for your feedback Lynn. :).

I've had this installed since the last time it was offered: one of the best match 3 out there, I've played through it's entirety TWICE: thanks again for sharing it with us.

This is a GREAT game ! :)

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

Hi Tim, this version hasn't been given away beofre. We did get the first in the series back in November. i'm hoping we will see the thid as well. :)

The game installed once I changed the default directory. I'm not sure if it was my system or their installer but it wanted to use c:\games\TheFlyingDutchman. Once I corrected the folder name everything went fine.

I haven't played the game yet as I have no time as of yet. It did look interesting though.

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

I sometimes get the same problem. In fact todays tried to install to yesterdays game folder. May need to delete the giveaway cookies to cure the problem :)

After yesterday's fiasco, installed this with some trepidation, and was delighted to see it installed and played perfectly on my win 8.1 machine. Only played a bit so far, but can see that I'm going to like the combination of match-3 and "sim" activities (I don't usually love sim things but do like a touch of it to enhance other games) and am looking forward to the more challenging puzzles mentioned by others. Certainly agree that all match-3s are NOT alike; even ones that don't have other elements can be made somewhat fresh and challenging (4 elements,for example). Graphics are nice, story not too intrusive, music fine as well. If only some of these added a touch of HOG or adventure game to the mix it would be perfect! Thanks as always, WR and the developers.

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


Glad you are happy. There are elements of HOGs in todays game via some of the mini games eg Prometheus's statue.:)

Thank you for your answer.
I believe that you are most likely correct in your assumption that the AV program is reacting to gcd.setup, because I got the same message when I tried to install todays giveaway from your sister site giveawayoftheday.com.
Have you changed gcd.setup recently? This is not the first time I download your giveaways and my AV never complained before.

What really worries me, is that when I write this same comment on the giveawayoftheday.com site, it is just deleted. This happened twice today.
I have noticed before, that the moderator of that site doesn't quite live up to the extraordinary job that you do, but to just delete entries. That's highly suspicious.

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


I don't know who moderates the sidter site. BuBBy used to, but he's become really busy over the last year or so. I've downloaded most giveaways up to recentl;y when I decided not to bother with most as I'v epurchased most of what i need now. I tend to buy via Bitsdujour when they have good sales on. The giveaway team also check all giveaways using a series of well known anti malware suites I've had one program create problems and the giveaway team said that they had tested the software, but the problem that had occured (I think it was called Sound Frost) was so new the anti malware suites hadn't picked it up till later in the day :)

Why do I see the free game only on my tablet and not on my PC?

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


It should install to both of your devices. Sometimes the install path may reflect previous giveaways, and can end up inside a previous game. Try reinstalling and make a note of where it's being installed to :)

Nice game great graphics and mini games. A keeper.

I agree - not all match 3 games are the same. This one seems to be pretty good. I only played for a few minutes. Enjoy it so far! Thanks again.

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


:)

Hi WhiteRabbit. We got 2 games in a row! :) But to tell the truth the game before this one was awful :P so this one has made up for that. Heroes of Hellas 2: Olympia is really fun to play. I usually don't like the hexagon-shapes 3-color-chain match-3 games, but this one drew me in by its theme(Greek/Roman mythology), music, SFX and graphics. It's a quality game by Alawar again. The game play mechanics are the usual for a lot of these games; collect enough money/gold to develop your village and people. But because of the theme I'm eager to collect money/gold in the game to see how my village & people will develop. Collecting pieces of an artifact to play the HOG mini game is a nice change of pace within the game too. Also the power-ups in the game are nice(I haven't seen all of them yet). I like the music and SFX too. The music sets the theme and the SFX are satisfying to the ear.
Nothing really new to be seen here, but the quality of the game will draw the player in and will make them play to see how their own village & people will develop. Fans of match-3 genre should definitely try this one.
I haven't played through the whole game to really comment well on improvements, but as I said before the game mechanics are pretty much the same as many others. I wish they could do something different with the game mechanics to make a new refreshing experience. I would like to have some kind of boss-levels in these type of games to test our skills as we develop them. Some of these games have boss-levels but not all of them. Also many of these games are 2D which isn't a bad thing, but I'd like to see some 3D elements mixed in or make one that is totally 3D.
I'm really happy that we got this game right after that awful one before it because I didn't want to wait another week for a new one. Will we continue to see 2-games in a row in the future?
Thank you very much WR and GGOTD. Please have a nice week.

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


Thanks for your feedback RealBull :)

360 Total Security reports a trojan (HEUR/QVM20.1.Malware.Gen) during installation.

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

All game giveaways are tested using several of the top end AV suites, also no game ever given away via the game giveaway site has ever been infected with malware since its inception back in December 2006, that's over 8 years and well over a thousand games. Also no one else has reported this in the six plus hours that its been live and approaching 4000 downloads. What you are seeing is a false positive. It's possibly casued by the security file gcd.setup that's needed to install the game.

Loaded perfect Win 8.1. Played a few levels no problems at all. Wish it was different for the last game. :(

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

This one is much better than yesterdays, a pleasure to play, with no chance to get bored. Lots to do and well made. Intersting effects and nice powerups etc. :)

I love Heroes of Hellas 2! I've had it for a while from MyPlayCity (quite a while, from back when they were still letting you install games where you wanted them), and I agree that it's much better than the original one. The timer isn't too hard to beat, and building the city and the palace is fun. Mousing over the citizens as they go about their business gives their names and sometimes other information about them.

The puzzles are challenging, to say the least. Some times I can figure them out, and other times, no way. If you get stuck, solutions are here (SPOILER ALERT!):

http://forums.bigfishgames.com/posts/list/75146.page

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

Thank you for your feedback Delilah :).

Comes with bloatware (malware ?): softwareinformer

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

No it doesn't. Once the game is installed and activated a window pops up asking if you want software informer. It's actually quite a useful program I've seen a whole range of reviews about this free software, some good some bad, it all depends on the opinions of the person writing the review. Basically software Informer is a safe utility that has been designed specifically for those users who care to keep their applications up to date. It informs you about new versions of the software you use.

Instead of clicking install Software Informer you click close, then its not installed. p.s. the reg key in the image is from a previous giveaway and invalid now. :)

Great review, Whiterabbit-uk! Thank you!

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

:)

I still have the original Heroes of Hellas offered here ages ago, and still enjoy it. Only played through a few levels so far, but this new version is more of the same, with better graphics and more extraneous events. My major complaint is the increased distraction of more popup windows for scores, city building, reading scrolls, etc. None of this seems part of the game itself since it is not interactive, merely an interruption; as with this same "feature" in many other games, you do not build a city but merely OK a popup which then places a particular building at a particular site (which often generates a scroll you must read before continuing). I enjoy the basic part of this game as much as the original, so just click-click-click through the interruptions to get to the next level.

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

Thank you for your feedback jgf, much appreciated. :)

How many Match 3 games we had here? Much more then 100 I think...
The 4 - 5 that I have installed are enough for me - they are all in all still the same.

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

Hi Immerdasselbe, I have to disagree with you on Match Three games all being the same. there are some brilliant Match Three games (e.g. Treasures of Montezuma 1 and 4, Around the World in 80 Days, 4 elements, Zuma, Bejewelled 3, The Atlantis series, plus loads more; each has their own additional content, whether it be a variety of mini games, city building, screensavers, power ups, story lines etc, they are distinct games, each with their own merits. Today's game is actually one of the better Match Threes available, with levels that are a pleasure to play, and varied game play.

Did you even try the game?

p.s.

I'm not a Match Three aficionado, preferring to play a wide variety of indie games (e.g. AaAAaa: A Reckless disregard for Gravity, Aquaria, Bit.Trip Runner, Cahors Sunset, Field Runners 2, several shmups and the breakout shatter), plus AAA games like Skyrim, ArmA 3 and Fallout 3, but I find some match threes relaxing and a pleasure to play, especially the ones I've mentioned above.

Heroes of Hellas 2: Olympia:

In Brief:

Heroes of Hellas 2: Olympia is an excellent Match 3 game with decent building elements, mini games and awards. The game has good graphics. Taking into account game play, graphics, music, re-playability and originality, I gave it an average score of 8.0 out of 10 - (game play scored 8.5). It's one of the better Match 3 games around and an improvement on the first in the series.

Heroes of Hellas 2: Olympia downloads to a 97.4 MB zip file and unpacks to a wrapped setup file, a security file (setup.gcd) and a read me doc with the terms and conditions and instructions

The game installs to:

C:\Games\HeroesofHellas2Olympia_Game

by default and is 165 MB in size once installed. There is no shortcut installed nor any uninstaller. To delete just delete the installed game folder. The game works on all of my Win 7 and Win 8 computers.

Introduction:

Build a city from the ashes of a fallen civilization and rule your people with wisdom and justice in Heroes of Hellas 2: Olympia! A mix of gripping Match 3 gameplay and city building fun, Heroes of Hellas 2 challenges you to drag your mouse across chains of identical items to remove obstacles, activate bonus items and collect valuable objects. Between levels, you can play one of eight minigames and spend the gold you earn on upgrades for your city!

Reference accessed HERE 25th Jan 2015

If you miss todays game, you can get it 24/7 from MyPlayCity and Jenkat Games. Do bear in mind the toolbars etc that you can get if you don't uncheck the check boxes during installation.

You can see some user reviews and comments from Big Fish Games Towards the bottom of the page) HERE

The Game:

It’s always nice when a sequel isn’t just a re-skinned game with a new coat of paint. Developer Jaibo Games went back to ancient Greece for Heroes of Hellas 2, the sequel to Heroes of Hellas, but it isn’t all same-old.

The game greets you with a fully-voiced introduction, telling you how the land is falling due to rampant evil. You are to create a haven for the good people in the land of Olympia. Continue to grow and shape the land and its people, and you may yet stand a chance at freeing the rest of the world from evil.

To help you with your people- and land-shaping, you’ll need resources and as much help as you can get. Resources come from match-three gameplay, where you’ll earn gold pieces, population increases or even pieces of amulets that revive old legendary figures such as Athene (not Athena as you would suspect) or Icarus. These ancient heroes, once collected, will help you in your quest. And unlike before, you’ll definitely need them this time.

The basic gameplay of Heroes of Hellas 2 is the same as the first game. Click on a colored tile, and drag the mouse along three or more like-colored tiles to clear them. Chains of five or more tiles create coins which, while adding to your overall money, function like wild-card tiles, enabling matches with fewer than three. Other icons include lightning bolts which rip through the board in a given direction, or hourglasses which add time to the clock.

As you progress through the game, power-ups become available. These are earned by making matches of a specific color. Powers include destroying tiles (either in an area or by color), breaking monoliths (blocks which require a match beside them to break) or ropes (tiles which require an extra match before the rope breaks). Unlike the first game, these power-ups can be "banked," becoming more powerful if you’re patient. These power-ups will be a requirement for some levels, such as breaking a monolith on a pile that isn’t connected to anything, but the goal of the level is to destroy all monoliths.

Indeed, the challenges in Heros of Hellas 2 are varied, which adds greatly to the gameplay. Some levels are completed by making matches over gold tiles, while others require you to use a god’s power a certain number of times. Another level you’ll be breaking hellstones (unbreakable bricks that require a god’s help or lightning bolts) or collecting a minimum number of coins.

There are other kinds of challenges, too. One level type requires you to clear the board in a certain number of moves, while another is like a bonus round where just clicking groups of three or more tiles clears them, trying to rack up as much treasure as possible in 60 seconds. These add a nice change of pace to the standard match-three stylings here.

The challenge level is much-improved from the first game. No longer a cakewalk, there will be a few nail-biting moments later in the game. However, it never feels stressful or difficult; rather, it feels like a challenge to complete later levels on time.

At the end of each level, you’re graded on how much time it took to complete the level, how many tiles you destroyed, how many coins collected and such. The gold here is earned for building your beautiful city.

While you have little control over building Olympia – your hand is held most of the time as to what to do – you must keep three categories in balance: Food, Security and Culture. Building a gristmill will help your food rating, while building a coliseum will add to your cultural standing. While your town will rarely get low enough in any rating before you’re able to build something, it does add a sense of purpose to the progression.

Once you’ve built enough structures and collected a god’s amulet, you can play a unique mini-game, like a hidden object game or jigsaw puzzle. While not mandatory, these games reward you with wallpapers for your desktop.

While not stunning, the graphics in Heroes of Hellas 2 are a vast improvement over the first. Drawn in a hand-painted style, everything is clear, colorful and easy to see. The soundtrack has a Greek feel to it, at least most of the time. The music is a nice compliment to the action.

Finally, there are unlockable achievements, ranging from breaking a set number of tiles to completing a certain number of levels without the gods’ help. Though they interrupt the gameplay to change screens, illustrating your achievements in a temple, it does add some degree of replay.

This is wonderful, because otherwise, there is little replay value here. Upon completing the main quest, there isn’t much else to do. And with only one mode (the mini-games, though fun, aren’t worth repeating), that hurts the game overall.

However, the biggest problem lies in the saving system. When you quit, the game autosaves. However, upon loading, you are warned that, though your game was saved when you quit, unless you press continue now, you’ll have to start from the beginning. The two selection boxes are awfully close to one another, and there were enough close calls to be worrying. Why Jaibo Games needed to do it this way is unclear.

Nonetheless, Heroes of Hellas 2 is a highly-enjoyable, highly-polished match-three game. While not breaking any real new ground, Heroes of Hellas 2 improves on a number of flaws form the first game, and leaves enough room for improvement for a future installment in the series. You can bet we’ll be there with our spears on.


Reference accessed HERE 25th Jan 2015

Images & Video:

You can see a slideshow of almost 80 images HERE , and some videos of Heroes of Hellas 2: Olympia HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE


Music:

If you don't like the in game music you should be able to exchange the music from the sound folder which is located:

C:\Games\HeroesofHellas2Olympia_Game\data\sounds

You'll need to rename and convert any of the music files you use (e.g. Wav/MP3's) to the .ogg format before you replace them. Not all files in the sound folder should be exchanged as some are for sound effects; generally it's the larger sized files that are music files. Some media players will play .ogg format sound/music files, so it may be a good idea to check the ones you intend changing to see if you can hear what they are. I also advise that you back up all files you intend replacing until you are sure the game works okay.

Minimum System Specifications:


OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8
CPU: 600 Mhz
System RAM: 128 MB
DirectX: 8.0
Hard Drive: 171 MB



Conclusion:
This is one of the better match three games, with a variety of things to do that will keep most match three players interested. Well worth a score of 8. Game play scored 8.5.


Score:

Overall I'd give this game the following score:

Game play - 8.5
Graphics - 8
Music - 7.5
Replayability - 8
Originality - 8

Total = 40 out of 50 which equates to 8 out of 10

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Problems:


If you have any problems installing or getting to work today's game please go HERE for help. I've posted all 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 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 the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn't guaranteed). 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 sometimes the grace period lasts for up to 2 hours, but more often than not 1 hour is the norm.

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 Jenkat a second. You'll find hundreds of match three games between the two sites, including todays giveaway from MyPlayCity and Jenkat Games.


If you do download any other games from MPC or the other free game sites '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 MPC tend to change the format frequently. .. I've posted links to all of the common free game sites below in the games, games games section. :)




If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums in the game discussion section. If you’ve installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn’t guaranteed. It’s always worth checking out the free games sites as sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them as is

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Games, Games, and yet more Games plus Download, Installation & Game play Problems:




There are 210 games on sale over on Steam, ranging from 10% to 90% off. You can find a full list HERE.

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

GreenManGaming
Gamersgate Summer Sale
GOG (DRM free games)
Desura
Gamestop
GameFly (soon to be sold off)


Free Game Sites:

Jenkat 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 Pixel: ru². Pixel: ru² (are you squared) is a game that is a combination of a platformer, a shooter, and a puzzle game. The gameplay features color theory based puzzle and combat mechanics and gravity manipulation based puzzle and platforming mechanics. There are a lot of simple systems stacked on top of each other which makes it easy to learn, but difficult to master. If you pay over the average, which at the time of writing was $1.40 You get the sound track as well. You can pay as little as $1 for the game if you wish. If the game is Greenlit you'll get a Steam key, plus you get a Desura key and be able to download the game DRM free as well. This bundle ends around 5am (GMT) Mon 26th Jan.


The latest Daily Indie game is caled In space, a first-person astronaut spacewalk simulator where you attempt to repair broken space stations, get through massive asteroid fields, and avoid flying into the sun. The game itself can be compared to the movie Gravity, with all the flying around in space and all the things that go wrong. It will also show you how difficult it is to fly around in zero G while trying to perform difficult tasks. The result is a hillarious and partly frustrating game with a lot of uncontrolled spinning around. You can get two keys if you pay more than the average of $1.15 (at the time of writing); one key to share with a friend or family member perhaps?. You'll find that deal HERE. They also have four bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 HERE each. The single game deal ends Midnight Tuesday 27th Jan and will be replaced with a new game called In Space

Most of the bundles 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.
The free game from Origin has chaned from Sim City 2000 to Theme Hospital. i.e.

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A Request for helpl>:

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.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

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