Once you've activated your copy of Journey To The Center Of The Earth, please only post comments about today's game giveaway; other comments either not appropriate, or not about the game will be deleted at the moderator or administrators discretion; however a little light banter among community members and with the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit is acceptable and welcomed. All comments not specifically about today's game giveaway will be judged by the moderator and if deemed not appropriate, will be deleted with no explanation.

I am posting this in light of the massive increase in negative comments not related to the game being given away, inappropriate comments and spam (Almost 700 spam comments were posted over a 24 hour period last month ) and that have been occurring regualrily over the past several months since the site was updated and in particular since the site started using Facebook, Twitter and Steam.

The giveaway team at my request have just implemented a VPN blocker, so those Trolls posting inappropriate and useless comments will no longer be seen before moderation has taken place. Any comment posted using VPN will be automatically blacklisted.

I believe if we get lots of decent feedback about the games we get here, more developers will be happy to give away their games. Seeing lots of complaints (and spam) instead of feedback about the giveaways will not persuade other developers to give their creations away for free. So please bear this in mind when posting your comments. Any comment not about the game for example complaints, or if deemed unfriendly or inappropriate, will be deleted (usually with no explanation) or added to the spam folder, which automatically black lists the IP address you used. Although I have enjoyed responding to many of those comments, I will no longer waste my time answering comments from community members who should have read the moderation policy.

Negative feedback about the games given away will always be welcomed because they can also be very constructive for developers, however, complaining about the way the site is operating or problems about downloading or installing the games or about Steam keys not received should be directed to the giveawayoftheday contact form (with evidence of completed tasks if needed). I've linked to the contact form HERE; alternatively, if the problem is game related and it is late in the day (I can't moderate 24 hours a day), please also post your issue in the forums where you may get a response from the community. Often, such problems are related to your computers set up. i.e. your security may block the installation (for example quite a few game giveaways I've installed have initially been blocked by my copy of Zemana Anti-malware suite) Also please read the moderation policy which can be found HERE and if you do have a problem please check the FAQ's thread HERE. Thank you.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth

In Brief

Journey To The Center Of The Earth was released to Steam Sept 2015 by the developer 4Nation5 in association with and inSayn. (Not to be confused with Frogwares version of the same named game, also found on Steam. This version is a 2D platformer about exploring giant caves and dying of thirst. Based on the Jules Verne novel, players control three adventurers with unique powers and have to make their way through 18 expansive levels, solve puzzles, avoid traps and find the well hidden secret

Suggestions:

Once you've activated the game via Steam please give some feedback about your opinion of the game, for example, what you liked or disliked about it, or how it could be improved from your point of view . If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What, improvements, if any, would change your opinion? There are thousands of subscribers to the game giveaway of the day every weekend which makes this an ideal forum for giving developers ideas as to what their consumers (i.e you) would like to see in a game. For example, you could suggest extra content such as better or more original mini games, or a level editor that you would like to see that would make it more appealing to you. Maybe you think the graphics are a little dated and are in need of re skinning, or maybe you've just had enough of the genre and want to see something different or something with more originality?

If you miss the offer totally, or all 9000 keys are taken before you get the chance to get one, the giveaway team will endevour to get more keys, but it's not guaranteed that they will. The developer inSayn games was very generous to give away 9000 keys. If the game looks interesting you can get the game 24/7 via Steam HERE. It usually costs £2.79/$3.99

Introduction:

Journey to the Center of the Earth started out as a small class project by some student from Berlins, who then spent another half a year to polish it and expand upon its core design then released it as their first commercial game onto Steam.

Installation:

Once you've found your key (should be sent to the email you used to enter the giveaway - it must be the email you first used to sign into the game giveaway site. If you’ve used a throwaway email there may be problems getting a key, because the key may be sent to that email. If you have any problems use the contact form. You have to activate the game via your Steam client. Once activated it will be permanently tied to your Steam profile and you'll be able to install the game at any time, anywhere on any computer, so long as you can validate who you are (usually via emails etc.). If you don't have a Steam account you will first have to download and install the Steam client HERE

Then create a Steam profile/account. Once that has been completed you can input the Steam code that you've received (after completing the form filling) via the game button along the top of the Steam client, (located between friends and Help - see the next image below). From the drop down menu select 'Activate a product on Steam'. This opens a product activation window. Just follow the prompts to complete activation. Once the Steam code has been accepted, the game will be permanently associated with your Steam account and can be installed any time you wish.

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If you have a problem installing or activating or getting Journey To The Center Of The Earth to work, please visit the problems section over in the Game Discussion forums, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

The Game:

Features:

⦁ classic puzzle platformer gameplay
⦁ 18 giant levels
⦁ 3 characters with unique powers
⦁ control all 3 heroes at the same time, or guide them individually
⦁ survival mechanic
⦁ no combat
⦁ lots of secrets to uncover
⦁ world based upon the Jules Verne novel

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a 2D platformer about exploring giant caves and dying of thirst. Based on the Jules Verne novel, players control three adventurers with unique powers and have to make their way through 18 expansive levels, solve puzzles, avoid traps and find the well hidden secret at the center of the Earth.

Reference accessed HERE 17th February 2017

Otto found a manuscript inside an old book and his assistant Axel was able to decipher the manuscript and found details of a route to the center of the Earth. Hans was tasked with leading the small group of explorers on this expedition to the center of the Earth. Each of the three intrepid explorers has a skill that will be essential if they are to succeed on their venture. Hans with is experience and strength , Otto with his knowledge of destructible rocks and Axel with his superior agility. With a pick axe Otto will be able to mine through certain rocks and Axel will be able to jump further and higher. To progress from one level to another runes need to be collected and each of the explorers will need to work together to progress, for example there are many pressure plates where at least two of the party will need to stand on to open a door so that the third can go find another pressure plate or switch on the other side of the door.

After entering the volcano, the three explorers find themselves in an underground passage, with obstacles such as pits with sharp stakes art the bottom. If any one of the party falls into one of these pits the game ends and you start again from the last checkpoint you made it to. Axel being the most agile is the ideal character to choose when having to negotiate such obstacles. Usually you'll find large stones on the other side of pits that can be slid into the pit to narrow them for the other two to jump across. Each level is introduced with a short task/aim, for example in the first level you need Otto to pick up a pick axe and Hans a water bottle. Once Otto has the pick axe he can mine his way through rock obstacles, which you'll find in every level. In the second level you need to find a divining rod, which once picked up activates a radar that indicates how near to water you are. you need to find water fairly quickly otherwise you'll die of thirst. Each level seems to get successively harder.

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

The problems section that used to be posted here in the Game review is now included in the Game Discussion FAQ's thread; which you can find HERE.

I've updated the games section that used to be posted with the review. The thread is now called 'Weekly round up of game deals', formerly the games section of the weekly reviews. You can find the new thread (which I've posted in the sticky section of the game discussion forums to make it easier to find if you are perusing the game discussion forums) HERE.

If Journey To The Center Of The Earth didn't appeal, you may find other games either free or for less than the price of a cup of coffee via the 'Weekly Roundup of Game Deals' thread which I've posted a link to above, or HERE.

The free game over on Origin is still the excellent atmospheric Sci Fi RPG third person Shooter Mass Effect 2, but it will be ending soon. If you've still not got a copy, get it now, it's well worth. It usually costs £19.99/$19.99 (though I paid the pre-order price of over £30 prior to it's release back in January 2010) . You can get it HERE. Please note that you do require the Origin game platform to be able to download and install the game.

You will also find lots of deals over on Green Man Gaming and Big Fish Games usually have 70% off the first game you buy from them, plus they also have other deals occasionally. Desura was purchased from Bad Ju Ju games last year by One Play. If you already have a Desura account you can read details of what is happening HERE. As yet you can't access games you previously purchased via Desura (I have around 1400), but One Play are working to recover everyone's accounts and hope to do so by the end of March 2017. Indie Royale will also resume on a weekly basis, though at this time I don't know if previous Inde Royale Greenlight bundles will be honoured? Alawar, Gamehouse and Playrix entertainment have free games available (usually online versions) and other game houses such as the AAA distributors Ubisoft and Origin always have some games on sale. I've updated the Weekly roundup of game deals HERE to include a large list of other sites where you can find games on sale ( eg Origin, uPlay, GreenManGaming etc, as well as links to free online games as well as other game houses such as Alawar, Playrix and Gamehouse plus gaming news sites such as Rock Paper Shotgun and Game Seek, and included a list of free to play Massive Multiplayer games such as World of Tanks, world of warships, Liberators and Allegiance to name a few. For more details please go to the Weekly roundup of game deals over in the game discussion sticky section HERE.

There are 1419 games on sale over on Steam at the moment, with up to 91% off. Game prices range from as little as £0.15p (Clones, Squirbs, 24 hours, The Chosen RPG, Defy Gravity Extended, Gun Rocket, Waveform, Morphopolis, Camera Obscura, Battle Ranch: Pig vs Plants, Biodrone Battle, Marble Mayhem: Fragile Ball, Detour, GooCublets: OCD, Revolution Ave, Why So Evil 2: Dystopia, Klabi, The First Spark, Caster, Torch Cave 1 & 2, all for less than £0.25p/$0/50 (most of these cheap games are actually cheaper in the UK than the US, so if you are a US citizen and have a UK friend, get them to buy the game for you. There are almost 300 games and dlc less than $1 and over 300 for less than £1. You can find all of the deals HERE.

If you spend more than $3 in the Indie Gala store you'll also get a free copy of the atmospheric point and click horror adventure game 'Between Me and the Night' worth $14.99/£9.99. There's also an RPG sale on over on the Humble Bundle site featuring Fallout 4 (50% off), Victor Vran (75% off), Grim Dawn (50% off), Torchlight I & II (75% off), Elder Scrolls Online Gold Edition includes all expansions so far (40% off), Elder Scrolls Online Ramriel Unlimited (50% off), Van Helsing Complete Pack (75% off), Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (25% off), plus other non RPG games on sale. If you subscribe to the Humble Monthly, which costs $12 a month you not only get a large collection of decent Steam games you will also get for the first month of the subscription Total War: Warhammer, which was released last Spring and costs $59.99/£39.99. The great thing is, you can cancel at any time, so only need to receive the first bundle of games. I personally haven't bothered, but only becasue I usually have already purchased most of the games included in the monthly bundle. The usual savings on the games you get are around 90%, not counting the introductory offer. There's also lots of games on sale over on the Bundle Stars and Indie Game Stand (IGS).

For those who missed out on the Alien Shooter 2 - Conscription giveaway from last month or Zombie Shooter from last October or Alien Shooter 2 - Conscription from last June or Zombie Shooter 2 from last May you can get six games from the series including Alien Hallway, Zombie Shooter 2, Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded, Alien Shooter: Revisited, alien Shooter and Zombie Shooter for $1.49. HERE. Pay an extra $0.50 and get a second bundle to give to your friends. All keys are Steam based. This offer ends mid March. however they have a valentines deal where you can get 20 copies of each game for a total of $7.99, ideal for gifts to friends, that's 120 steam codes. The offer ends at at 8pm UK time this evening. stores.

...........................................FREE game offer from the moderator in exchange for quality feedback...................................

There were some winners from last week, which I mentioned in reply to their comments Mavadelo (for Forge of Gods: Beauties and the Beasts Pack), Lahazard (for Forge of Gods: Beauties and the Beasts Pack), Torque (for Psycho Train). I already know what Mavadelo wants, but haven't heard from either Torque or Lahazard. I've posted a list of over 200 Steam games in the forums HERE, some of which I will give away to those community members who post decent feedback for the game given away that day. It is quite an extensive list of games taken from the 10 000+ Steam keys I've collected over the last several years; all were either purchased by me, or received free for pre-ordering games on Steam, plus a few from entering competitions and other offers). There will be a limited number of other keys available, such as Origin, uPlay and Desura keys (Desura has recently been purchased following the original owners demise and should be up and running by the end of March). I will announce the winner's from the giveaway the following week. If no announcement is made, it means no one posted feedback that qualified for a free game that week. There were no winners from the previous two weeks, though I am still considering a couple of comments from last week. I will inform those community members if I decide they are worth a game by email. If you have won a game, I will also post details in the thread I've created specifically for that purpose HERE. Once I've given a key away, the game and any comments by the winner will be removed from the list. I will assume if you don't reply within a few weeks you aren't bothered about a key. Please post your preferences (list at least 3 games in order of preference over in the forums HERE)

Depending on the quality of the feedback, I may choose to award games to more community members for each game given away, 'at my discretion'. The feedback must be about the game, and it must include a couple of paragraphs of feedback following the guidelines I've posted in the suggestions section of my review. i.e. your opinion of the game, what you liked and/or disliked plus suggestions for improvement. If you choose a game that is very cheap I may give you a second game; so, when choosing from the list I provide, please list more than one choice. If a game is chosen by more than one community member and only one key is available the key will go to the one I deem the most useful. I do have multiple keys for quite a lot of the games I've listed, so, don't be put off if you see someone else has chosen the game you want. I haven't indicated any of the games I have multiple keys for (though for example I do have several keys for the excellent Western themed AAA game Call of Juarez, which i picked up for free for purchasing several games via the Indie Gala store several months ago. spending a few dollars got me a copy of the game, so I made several separate purchases over a couple of days while the offer was still live.

I do own at least three community members a game from the previous giveaways that I posted several months ago. I'd totally forgotten about those. I do have a document with their names on, so they will get a game from the original list when I find the document (I'm extremely disorganized); or they can peruse the new list and choose something different. Just post a comment over in the forums in the appropriate thread. If you do post feedback with a view to getting one of the games and think you have covered the requirements, you don't have to do anything until I announce the winners the following week.

Please remember, this comments section is mainly for feedback about today's game giveaway. If you're not sure, read the moderation policy, which you can see HERE