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Check the game discussion forums HERE for links to more free time-limited games. The latest include Axiom Verge a retro styled side scrolling platformer; and, if you live in Asia, to celebrate the Chinese New Year, you can get Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction an action/adventure stealth game for free via Ubisoft's uPlay client. Unfortunately this is not available in Europe or America.

Also, I have three spare keys for the award winning narrative driven horror game Perception HERE (2 Steam keys and a Nintendo Switch key). Preference will be given to community members who I still owe Steam keys to (I haven't forgotten).

Hidden Wonders of the Depths

In Brief

Hidden Wonders of the Depths is an 11 year old casual arcade game with multiple game play styles (various match three styles, matching pairs, builing and mahjong).

Installation Issues:

downloads to a 30.7 MB zip file that unzips to three files, (a setup.gcd security wrapper the set-up file and a read me). The game installs to the following path by default, but can be changed if you wish. The installed game is 32.8 MB in size.

C:\Program Files (x86)\MyPlayCity.com\Hidden Wonders of the Depths

Four shortcuts are installed to the desktop; the Play Online Games, MyPlayCity Games and shortcuts to a free online game; the name of which may vary each week can be deleted once the game has been installed. The Themida wrapper may alert your security and even block the installation. There are details in the read me about this issue.

Introduction:

Scurry through the underwater squares with `Crab` to help the mermaid build her fantastic home. Hidden Wonders of the Depths is a liquid mix of Match 3, Mahjong, and Hidden Object game play. No oxygen tank required as you move around collecting ancient artifacts. Discover hidden wonders in the depths of this vast, lively sea.

Reference accessed HERE. Re-posted by Whiterabbit-uk 9th February 2019

The Game:

There are casual games – instantly-comprehensible titles which appeal to a broad audience – and then there are casual games, the sort so leisurely and undemanding you could practically fall asleep playing. Falling firmly into the latter category despite offering a wealth of different game play styles and colorful undersea realm in which to play, Hidden Wonders of the Depths predictably manages to entertain, but, as you might imagine, won’t set the desktop world aflame.

What little detail there is story-wise revolves around your quest to reclaim fabulous treasures piece by piece for a desiring mermaid, who tasks you with journeying around a submarine world in the title’s single play mode. Never you mind, though, as it’s all simply an excuse to pair or group similar objects (such as starfish, sea anemones and pearls) in a variety of different challenges, including match-three diversions, mahjong-style amusements, memory-testing scenarios and even the odd hidden object sequence.

If it all seems to be a bit much to cram into one lone outing, rest assured instinct isn’t leading you astray. Quantity, not quality, is the watchword here, as although all of these segments actually perform capably and tie together reasonably well, none proves of outstanding or particularly memorable caliber.

The key problem: Core mechanics are universally borrowed from other, more involved titles. And while on a surface level everything proves perfectly functional, there’s no standout feature or singular aesthetic really helping the outing rise above the crowd.

Sometimes you’re clicking groups of three or more objects to remove them from the board… Others, lifting stones to see if they conceal like items, or swapping tiles to help a gibbering crab (which, sadly, sounds an awful lot like Crazy Frog) by clearing a path to gem-containing treasure chests. Heck, there’s even moments where you’re scouring the screen for turtles and vases (sans hint functions, with failure resulting in complete stage restarts) or solving tarot card-based puzzles (to gain bonuses, e.g. stone-smashing hammers, other games give for free), no less. But never does the total package feel especially compelling, or difficult, save in the latter case for those areas where the designers seem to have made the occasional creative oversight.

Visuals are catchy in a colorful way, with vibrantly-hued fish swimming in the background and boards full of objects that wiggle to provide the odd graphical cue when user prompting is needed. However, the musical score and library of sound effects are highly nondescript and repetitive, and are best turned off within the first five minutes. Still, it’s hard to see who’d really persevere and complete all 210 levels, when – instead of opting for a little something from every category – you could simply find single-genre titles that offer a much more compelling and focused experience.

Furthermore, although time is periodically an issue and you’re only afforded a limited number of lives, Hidden Wonders of the Depths never really pushes the limits of your ability as much as it does patience. As such, the game offers a nice way to wind down after a long day at work more than engaging proposition that’s bound to keep you glued to your monitor. Bearing this in mind, we strongly urge you to consider this before breaking down and coughing up the cash required to grab it.

Edited reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by Joel Brodie on Mar 24, 2008 , re-posted by Whiterabbit-uk 9th February 2019

Conclusion:

Although there were lots of different play styles, I much prefer a more focused and challenging casual game. I have much better versions of all the play styles presented in Hidden Wonders of the Depths and found no challenge whatsoever while playing the game. If you just want a quick 10 minute coffee break, with some variety, then this game will give you that, but for a more prolonged game play session I wouldn't bother. I found the game rapidly became rather boring despite its colorful and pleasant graphics.

The game is almost 11 years old, and may have issues on more modern systems, especially if you have hi resolution monitors. If you do have issues, try going into compatibility mode to adjust the graphic options. Also, the language option has been disabled; only English is available in the giveaway version.

Other Reviews and Videos of Hidden Wonders of the Depths:

You can see other comments of Hidden Wonders of the Depths via the Big Fish forums HERE and a 'more' positive review of the game (compared to the main review) HERE

You can see several in-game videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE.

If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game free via MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE; or If you prefer to purchase the game you can get it HERE via Big Fish Games. There are also two more Hidden Wonders of the Depths games available called Hidden Wonders of the Depth 2: Around the World and Hidden Wonders of the Depth 3: Atlantis Adventures, both of which are available via Big Fish games. I couldn't find a free and safe download site for either of these games, though you may find browser versions on Zylom.

Problems getting the game to work:

If you're having problems installing or activating or getting Hidden Wonders of the Depths to work please visit the FAQ's Thread HERE and read through the communities comments because sometimes fixes have already been posted, for example, a common issue seen since the Themida wrapper was introduced three years ago is that some community members installation of the game are blocked by their security because Themida code has been known to hide malware, (usually an error message is flagged for example 'The executable is corrupted' even though in reality it is not); so as a precaution some anti malware programs will block and even delete the suspect installation files even though the files (i.e. the setup, read me and setup.gcd files are actually totally free from malware. This issue can be solved either by rebooting your computer in safe mode with networking or a quicker method is to temporarily turn off your security software to allow the installation. You could also try white-listing the setup.gcd file. In the almost 12 years this game giveaway site has been operating there has 'never' been a game given away that was infected with malware.

If you experience graphical issues go into properties and select compatibility, then check the 'Disable full-screen optimizations' and 'run in 640x480 screen resolution'. Also check the 'Run this program in compatibility mode for' then select either the XP or Vista options and check the 'Run this program as an Administrator'.

If for any reason you want to contact the giveaway team, for example, you have a game to offer the community, or are unable to download the latest game or other issues that the FAQ's thread or these comments don't cover or solve you can do so HERE

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

If Hidden Wonders of the Depths doesn't interest you, but you still hanker for something new to play, you'll find details of some game deals whether they be sale items, indie bundles or games being given away for free HERE (I've not updated the thread in a while, but most of the links still take you to the latest deals).

The rest of the information that used to be posted in the game review can be found in the forums HERE. Finally, check out Delenns threads for details of other free games and offers HERE and elsewhere in the game discussion forums HERE, (usually on the first page of the game discussion forums). The latest Epic Games freebie is a retro side scrolling action/adventure game called Axiom Verge. If you live in Asia, you can also get Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction (to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Check the Game discussion forums for details.