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I will be moderating during the day, but it won't be as often as usual as I feel it's important that I support my kids as much as possible over their exams, plus we are out for the afternoon and early evening visiting family.

Please only post comments about today's game giveaway; other comments either inappropriate, or not about today's 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. Please see the end of this review for a link to more details about posting comments, other game deals and other links. If you need to contact the give away team you can do so HERE and if you're unsure about posting comments the moderation policy is HERE and the FAQ's thread is HERE.

Legacy: World Adventure

In Brief

A match three (3 types) with elements of adventure, and various puzzles. Ideal for tehe whole family. Hardened Match Three and serious puzzle enthusiasts need not apply.

Suggestions:

Whether you like or dislike Legacy: World Adventure please give some feedback about your opinion of todays game giveaway, for example, what you liked or disliked about the game, and how it could be improved from your point of view. If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What improvements 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?

Giving such feedback instead of saying nothing or just saying this game is rubbish or good may bring more developers to the site, which could mean more and better games. Would you give away thousands of copies of a game (or extra content for a game) away to a community that complains all the time instead of giving useful feedback? It only takes a few moments of your time. This site could be transformed if only the community would be more forthcoming in their opinions of the games they are getting for free instead of complaining about the way this site has changed or that they don't like Steam games. If something isn't for you then move on to the next giveaway, or check out the extra's section at the end of this review; you never know, you may find something that interests you.

If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via Big Fish Games HERE. It's usually £7.70 unless you're a new subscriber in which case it's only $2.99.

Installation:

Legacy: World Adventure downloads to a 74.3 MB zip file that unzips to three files, (a setup.gcd security wrapper, the set up file and a read me). Those with multiple hard drives are able to save games on any drive they wish. The newly installed game is 80.5 MB in size. The game installs to the following path by default, but can be changed by the user if you prefer:

C:\Program Files (x86)\MyPlayCity.com\Legacy - World Adventure

Four shortcuts are installed to the desktop. three of which can be safely deleted (Play Online Games, MyPlayCity Games and shortcuts to a free online game which vary each week). Also, if you don't like icons installed to the quick launch task bar, make sure you uncheck the box when the additional tasks window appears (after the Select Start Menu Folder window)

Introduction:

A young girl Emily King had to dive into the atmosphere of adventurous journeys and visit several places of the world to find the fortune of her family. Some of us tremble with joy and look forward to seeing new countries and continents and getting acquainted with people from the other sides of the world. But we also doubt whether it is possible to make the trip pleasant and comfortable. People are sometimes so tired of all those tasks and challenges that they simply want to relax and think of something different from solving complicated problems. But if you still have a wish to do such things then Legacy: World Adventure is the very thing you are looking for. Discover new places, travel through the old forests and ancient caves. Widen your horizons with Legacy: World Adventure. It's even difficult to imagine what tasks and secrets are hidden in such distant areas.

Look at the map of the world and decide where to go next. This wonderful game gives you a chance to entertain yourself, make lines of the crystals and find answers to numerous questions. Don't lose your temper while trying to complete the tasks. Remember that you can do more and get better scores in Legacy: World Adventure. No doubt you'll soon find this game capturing and it will be easier for you to play. Don't try to guess - follow Emily King, talk to her and enjoy the whole process. Dare to shake off your fears and start your entertainment right now! You'll never get bored with it so there is no use in waiting - show what you can!

Reference accessed HERE. 26th May 2017

Main Features:

⦁ An international adventure
⦁ Addicting gameplay
⦁ Make your family proud!

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting Legacy: World Adventure to work please visit the problems section, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

The Game:

Legacy: World Adventure has players stepping into the shoes of fiery redhead Emily King, the daughter of a storied adventurer who is intent on winning a legendary race around the world and continuing her family’s legacy in the competition. Along the way we encounter more than half a dozen different kinds of puzzles each of which provides a valuable clue about our next destination. It’s kind of like Amazing Race: The Video Game, but with bug eating and rock climbing challenges swapped out for jigsaw and match-three puzzles.

The game starts with a compelling little prologue that introduces players to an interesting mix of characters, including protagonist Emily, her hillbilly mechanics Zeke and Jethro, a monocle-wearing arch-nemesis named Sir Oxley D. Barrington III, and even a love interest in the form of the bespectacled and somewhat geeky Timothy Richmond, a fellow racer.

We’re then launched into a lengthy tutorial that takes us through Legacy: World Adventure‘s primary puzzles and shows us the sort of clues we can expect to obtain by solving them. Completing a Bejeweled-style gem swapping game, for example, provides us with a text hint that describes something exclusive to the country we need to find. Often you won;t need to complete these clues becasue many of the initial clues given are very straighforwards and anyone with a smattering of general knowledge, for example which was the country to give women the vote? the answer of course is a country in the southern Hemishphere, below Japan and next to a country that has a large sandstone rock outcrop called Uluru (indiginous peoples name for the rock).

If you can’t guess the destination after the first clue, a Hexic / Bejeweled Twist-like puzzle eliminates several countries from the global map (the more matches you make in a set number of moves, the more nations disappear), while a third puzzle type (similar to the Web match three games) has players drawing lines between matching stones to create triangles that reveal slices of a photograph of a famous landmark. These line puzzles are also used to reveal country flags—the fourth and final clue for each destination.

When we arrive at a destination we’re provided a few interesting facts about the country’s geography, population, culture, and politics—a nice little bonus—before a clue to the race’s next country is unveiled.

The basic design is solid. Solve a puzzle, get a clue, decide whether you know the country to which the clue refers and either fly to it on the world map or move on to the next clue to collect more information before making your guess.

But things begin to go wrong almost immediately. For starters, most of the text clues we’re provided are better described as giveaways, seeing as how they all but scream out country names (one tells us that the country we’re looking for is home to the Parthenon; another says you’ll find the Buckingham Palace here). Indeed, it feels as though these clues are targeted at fifth grade social studies students rather than adult players, which IMO make sit perfect for a family game with children in the 8 to 12 age group.

And since each new leg of our journey begins with one of these text clues offered up for free, much of the time there’s no need to even play games to obtain additional clues. (apart from the first clue in Stage one, where I wasn't quite sure what was expected, I then flew through the next several countries, not even having to play for extra clues becasue the initial clues were so obvious, though I doubt they would be to the younger person.

Not that I was missing much. These puzzles aren’t exercises in strategy or skill so much as tests of patience. There’s no way to lose any of them; players just keep on shifting jewels or drawing lines until a clue is revealed. It doesn’t even matter how quick or slow you happen to be; you just need to keep slugging away. I was happy to skip these tedious challenges whenever I could.

It’s worth noting, though, that there are a few puzzle types that you can’t avoid. Each of the game’s chapters concludes with a scroll that reveals the first text clue for the next leg of the race. The only way to collect this scroll is to take on one of several rudimentary visual conundrums. There are a couple of jigsaw puzzles, some tile and stamp matching games, and a couple of spot-the-differences-between-these-two-pictures puzzles. None are remotely innovative, and none take longer than a minute or two to finish.

But even more maddening than the simplistic puzzles is the shocking amount of repetition that takes place during the two or three hours it takes to play through the game. The creators opted to make only 30 of our world’s 200-odd countries viable destinations, greying out the rest on the game’s map of the globe (there are, for example, only three visitable nations in all of Africa). I ended up arriving in the same countries time and again. Worse, some of the clues leading me to these countries the second or third time were identical to the ones I was originally provided. Needless to say, replay value sits around nil for adult players.

Had Legacy: World Adventure been given more time to bake, allowing the developers to tweak the puzzles, create more challenging clues, and triple or quadruple the number of countries we could visit, it would have been much more fun and innovative. As is, it will likely prove to be a dull and repetitive drag for adults, and better suited to younger players or people who are looking for something not to taxing on the brain. I am surprised not to have seen this concept expanded on in newer match three games becuae there is a lot of potential in this form.

Edited reference accessed HERE. Original review written by Chad Sapieha on May 6, 2009. Edited and added to by Whiterabbit-uk 26th May 2017

Other Reviews, Videos and a Slideshow of Legacy: World Adventure:

You can see community reviews of Legacy: World Adventure HERE and more information in the Big Fish forums HERE.

You can see some videos of game play HERE, HERE (Spanish), and HERE. You'll find a written walkthrough over on big fish Games HERE and a slide show of over 160 images (some spoilers) HERE.

Conclusion:

The game is little dated (released in 2009), but it is a reasonable match three game with three styles of Match 3 included and packed with various puzzles, though most are very easy, for example when travelling around the world, more often than not you have no need to get clues via the match three boards or puzzles, for example, some of the simplest include, which country will you find the Kremlin, where is the Gobi desery and the highest Mountain situated (slight isse with this one in that both are bordered by Nepal and China/Tibet (a bone of contention for many), but from the game map, it can only be one choice as Nepal and Tibet are not marked, also where the Watt and Industrial revolution started and which country was the first to allow the womens vote. These are just a few that you can whizz through if you wish. Most of the puzzles such as find the difference and sliding puzzles are great for the young 'uns. There's also word puzzles which are unlicked via the match three games, simple mahjong boards and a few others. As you visit each country (once you've solved the various puzzles and/or clues you given some facts about that country. This is an Ideal family game that could be used to teach your children some geography, flags of the world etc. The game is a little dated as far as graphics go, but that does not detract from the overal game play. I did find some of the puzzles over simple, but I'd still score this game an 8 out of 10 for it's packed content, educational value and family friendly nature.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away Legacy: World Adventure and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games.

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.

The rest of the information that used to be posted here can be found in the forums HERE. Don't forget, if you have an account with DOT.emu, you need to download any games you have before June, when the site closes permanently. Finally, check out Delenns thread over in the forums HERE. There are games available for free, some of which are limited to the number of free keys available.