To get a feel for today's game before you download it, please check out several game play videos of Lost Artifacts: Collector's Edition HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE, plus a slide show of around 40 images HERE. Also, please read the ''Having problems installing today's game?'' and the ''Suggestions'' sections (near the end of this review) before proceeding with the game installation. The problems section explains issues that seems to occur for a small section of the community, usually associated with the Themida wrapper that all game giveaways (apart from the Steam keys) come wrapped in. You'll also find links to other helpful information such as the FAQ's thread, Contact Form for the giveaway team, Game discussion forums, Moderation Policy and the Weekly roundup of Game Deals thread, though the last link hasn't been updated in a while, most of the links will still take you to the latest deals.

p.s. will email you soon Delenn re: Indie Gala; I've been run off my feet over the last several days.

Please only post comments about today's game giveaway; however, a little light banter among community members, friends and the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit is acceptable and welcomed. Other comments not specifically about today's game giveaway will be judged by the moderator and if deemed inappropriate, will be deleted at the moderator or administrators discretion and usually with no explanation. Comments that may be deleted include anything considered inappropriate or not in the spirit of the site, such as swearing, commenting negatively about other community members and their comments, spamming, posting nonsense or comments with only one, abbreviated phrases or a few words; for example vg, good, thank you, TY, bad, rubbish, this game is ****** etc , or if the comment has nothing to do with today's game or is complaining. If you have a complaint, send it to the giveaway team via the contact form that I've linked to below rather than posting it here. These comments are for the game. Please see the moderation policy HERE for details about posting comments.

Lost Artifacts – Collector's Edition

In Brief

A Resource management game

Installation:

Lost Artifacts – Collector's Edition downloads to a 227 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 513 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\Lost Artifacts – Collector's Edition

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:

For a long time, Claire worked as a historian and archaeologist at a prominent university. When she chose her course in life she thought she'd be searching for ancient treasure, but instead ended up spending all her time reading. Then, one day Claire noticed a peculiar coincidence. Had she really uncovered a treasure map of the ancient Aztec people? Without a second thought she left in search of the treasure. She had been waiting for so long and couldn’t miss her chance.

In Lost Artifacts Collector’s Edition, set off with Claire on an adventure through the uncharted continent. Enjoy vivid levels, lots of different objectives, increasing difficulty, fun plot, and captivating gameplay for any age. Build a city, manage resources, restore ancient statues, and use powerful magic. With its simple controls and easy training, you’ll be playing like a pro in no time.Lost Artifacts Collector’s Edition — Restore the ancient city and defeat the dark priest!

Reference accessed HERE. 16th September 2017

The Game:

Claire thought she would be an active historian/archaeologist. Instead of going on adventures to exotic locations, though, she spent most of her time absorbed in books. All of that changed when she discovered the secrets of the lost Tonauak tribe. Claire didn’t hesitate to grab her things and dash out to the jungle. What she didn’t count on was a nefarious high priest who wasn’t keen on having his plans for immortality ruined by some meddling adventurers.

Lost Artifacts is a casual resource management game with a simple plan and a no-surprises kind of story. And you know what? That’s exactly what makes it fun. As with most path clearing time management games, Lost Artifacts has you sending out workers to move things out of the way so you can progress to the end of the stage. Logs blocking the trail? No problem. Pointy spears in the way? Just give ’em a click and you’re good to go.

Resources come in a few basic flavors: food, wood, metal, and gold. You’ll get a few freebies in each stage, but the bulk of the good stuff comes from repairing buildings like sawmills and farms. Most actions will consume a few of these resources, making Lost Artifacts a game of strategic clicking and thoughtful spending. You can upgrade most buildings to produce even more goodies, including huts that give you an additional worker. No matter what you do, keep an eye on the level goals at the bottom of the screen. That’s what you’re here to accomplish, and that’s what lets you unlock new stages.

Some levels introduce new resource-type additions that make things a little more complicated. For example, you might need to restore sets of statues around the island in order to proceed. But you can’t just slap some stone up there and call it a day. No, you need a priest, and they only come around when you fix up their temple. Extras like this are what keep the Lost Artifacts experience fresh from level to level. Not a lot of other stuff changes, but you always feel like you’re doing something new.

Most resource management games pour on the complexity in an attempt to make things interesting. Why have four resources when you can have eight? And how about flashing icons to click, mini-games in-between levels, mad monsters to chase off, and a dozen other distractions? Instead of going that route, Lost Artifacts focuses on the basics, and it does them extraordinarily well. You’ve got clicking and queuing, resource management, building upgrades, and a handful of achievements. You always feel like there’s more to do but you never feel overwhelmed, making this an enjoyable and relaxing game you’ll be happy to come home to.

Reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by John Bardinelli on on Aug 31, 2017 Re-posted .by Whiterabbit-uk 16th Sept 2017.

Other Reviews and Videos of Lost Artifacts: Collector's Edition:

You can see Big Fish community reviews of Lost Artifacts – Collector's Edition HERE and more information HERE, plus you can see a slideshow of around 40 images HERE. There's game play videos of Lost Artifacts HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Conclusion:

Lost Artifacts is a typical resource management game. Personally I find this type of game tedious (and is for me one of the least liked/enjoyed game genres that I know of , so will not give a full conclusion as although I try not to be unbiased when writing these reviews I'm sure being the least loved genre for me it would be a little negatively biased. Of the first few levels I played I found it similar to other titles of the genre. It didn't bring anything new to the genre, just a rehash of previous games.

Suggestions:

After you've had an opportunity to play today's giveaway please take a few moments to give some positive or negative feedback about the game; for example, what you liked or disliked about the game, or how it could be improved. If you don't like the genre at all, please explain why and if any, what improvements would change your mind? If you don't have time to post a comment today, please do so at your convenience, thank you. To access the comments once the giveaway is over, open up the game giveaway to its home page then scroll to the bottom of the page where it says Archives and select the date the giveaway was live (giveaway days are in bold type). This will open up the appropriate page for you to post your comment or review.

There are thousands of subscribers to the game giveaway of the day every weekend which makes this an ideal forum for giving developers new or fresh 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 needs 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, for example, they don't like MPC games, they hate HOG's, have had enough of Match Three and Time Management games, or they want to see the latest version of Call of Duty or some other big name AAA game given away or that they don't like Steam games. If something isn't for you then please move on to the next giveaway, or check out the forums HERE, HERE and HERE, where a few members of the community post details of various free games and free game sites as well as links to various indie bundle sites etc; you never know, you may find something that really interests you.

If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE; or If you prefer to purchase the game you can get it HERE via Big Fish Games.

Having problems installing today's game?

Please read the following before downloading and installing today's giveaway. If you are having problems installing the game, please check the FAQ's thread HERE and read through the communities comments because sometimes fixes have already been posted. The main issue we have is with the giveaway wrapper, which uses a Themida based code to protect the games executable. Unfortunately Themida is also used to hide malware; so, as a precaution, some security software may block the installation and sometimes even delete the executable file. Blocking or deletion is usually determined partly by the way your computer has been configured. Usually you'll get a message saying ''the file is corrupted'', but in reality the files are okay. There are a couple of things you can do to overcome this issue. The first is to reboot in safe mode with networking, install the game then reboot, or secondly you can (at your own risk) temporarily turn off your security, install the game, then turn your security back on. A note of reassurance to those that choose the latter and quicker method. The game giveaway team have been giving away games for over a decade (Dec 2006 & prior to that, via the main site 2 or 3 times weekly from Oct 2006 to Dec 2006) and have 'NEVER' given away a game infected with malware; they always test every giveaway with several of the top anti-malware suites to ensure all games are free from malware.

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 if you have a problem installing or activating or getting today's game to work or other issues that the FAQ's thread or these comments don't cover or solve please visit the problems section, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away Lost Artifacts – Collector's Edition 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. Finally, check out Delenns for details of other free games and offers HERE