Hello! I could have sworn I've been to this site before but after looking at
many of the posts I realized it's new to me. Regardless, I'm definitely happy I found
it and I'll be book-marking it and checking back often!

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:)

I've been playing a bit at a time, and I'm at the point where I'm at the top of the round railroad on the map, the padlock that would turn into the fifth large flag if I could play it. I can get into the game, to the map page, but the "Continue" banner doesn't respond when I click on it. It's like it's not a button. I've waited, tried clicking again, double-clicked, nothing. It's completely frozen (although the music still plays) and I have to CTRL-ALT-DEL to get out of the game. I've tried three or four times, and it's the same every time; I can get into the game and to the map page, but then nothing. It seems to be dead. Guess I'm finished.

Angie

I found the odd tileset disconcerting, since the tile counts are off, it makes it harder to strategize the order of removal. The shuffle is not attempting to make solvable puzzles, even in casual mode, and on one level it miscounted, and I had an odd number of pieces. The game locked up, and after restarting it, it played through the same level correctly.

The game installs easily and plays smoothly. Graphics are very nice.
The main complaint I have with this game is that it gives you very little idea what the hell you're supposed to do! You play several rounds of Mahjong and at the end of each round you receive one of the items shown off to the right. When you've collected all of those items, then you have to figure out what to do in order to continue!
The only other thing I don't particularly like about this game is the tile layout. They chose layouts result in constant shuffling in order to find any matches. You may have one or two matches and then you have to shuffle. One or maybe two more matches and then you have to shuffle again. - Spoils the game.
I guess I shouldn't find fault since the game was free, but I can tell you I'd be very upset if I had paid for this game.

Ah yes - now as others mention it - it was the Munchhausen game background.

If you watch the files being installed, one of them is even called "munchausen"-LOL! You couldn't put anything over on GGOTD people!

This is a good game to dip into for half and hour to relax, but maybe too tedious to play right through at one sitting. I enjoy mahjong solitaire, and was able to get through quite a few without any reshuffling.

A relaxing, family-friendly game, with Playrix's usual great graphics, so, thanks, Playrix and GGOTD; and thanks for your review, Whiterabbit.

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Thank you for your feedback Mac, seeing as the two ganes have different named developers, it's rather suspicios. Unless they changed their name.

I knew I had seen the scenes before but couldn't place them, good memory on it being Munchausen, which was by a company called JoyBits. Maybe some of the same programmers reusing code or perhaps a renamed company?

The "Mahjong" portion of this game is pretty boring and really has nothing to do with the HO component or storyline. Very disjointed.

Does run well on Win7 64. Like that it saves your progress.

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Thank you for your feedback Deb, possiblyt a re jigged devlopment house; the last recession hasn't been kind to many game development houses. :)

Yep... uses the exact scenes from "The Surprising Adventures of Munchausen" including the hidden object associations. I would not mind this, but maybe a little homage to the game could be made at the begining or something... like this girl is the daughter of the princess that Munchausen saved in the previous game. Otherwise it seems a bit of a rip-off.

But it is new in the way of having Majong as the way you "find" items for the scene.

Sadly, if they were going to just re-use all the scenes, I would have expected a better AI for the Majong and re-shuffling action. Even with the most carefully thought out selection of tiles usually results in having to re-shuffle over and over and over because the tiles are not laid out or re-shuffled into a placement that can have at least one chance of playing all the way through.

Very sad, because I really liked "The Surprising Adventures of Munchausen" and would have easily forgiven the re-use of the game if the Majong was done at all better.

I might play through to the end just to see if there is even one scene that is not taken from the other game, but even that is getting doubtful with the mediocre Majong play.

My suggestion for the maker would be if they are going to just phone it in on the scenes, the least they could do is put in some work on the only new feature... the Majong.

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Thank you for your feedback I agree on the effort w.r.t. improving the Mahjong. :)

Thank you for a nice game. Playing a Mahjong game has always been a frustration how I'd get to the end and not be able to do anything more - given that I'd screwed up sometime earlier with an incorrect match. I like that the 'shuffle' button gives me another chance to make things right.

I like the 'related' objects search. The only negative element so far is that these are so far away. Matching the pliers to the lobster claw was pretty neat - looking forward to the next one :-)

Dave.

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Thank you for your feedback Dave.

Hi again, Thanks Stephen for Comment You left under my earlier entry sharing Your personal Family circumstances of great Sacrifices of Your Ancestors..(it gave me a chance to refresh my knowledge about Battle of Jutland, major Naval Battle of WW1), and in Your Family, I imagine, ever greater focus point because of Your Loss, and elsewhere injures for life..My Grandpa (on Mother's side) took part in that War as petty officer in Polish Land Army, interned at one point but surviving escape (same Legions that later on successfully stopped Soviets advancing to the west of Europe in famous Battle of Warsaw in 1920..), so we too grew up always aware about our Family active involvement and taking part in those dark, blood thirsty times shaping history and Land of Europe for future Generations. Everlasting Glory to those Guys! Lastly, we have now in family our own 'living Poppy'.., as our Daughter and Son-in-law decided to give that very name to their long awaited Daughter in spring of this year, name to commemorate Centenary of WW1 no less...No need to post this Whiterabbit, but thanks again. Also off course for full review of today's Game, much appreciated.

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Thank you Fran. :)

Mahjong Secrets seems, to me, like an old fashioned and outdated game, although Norton 360 says MahjongSecrets.exe was released just 14 months ago. Setup is quick and simple and the game can be installed wherever the user wishes; Mahjong Secrets is portable and can be put on a USB key if one wishes. The game starts quickly and runs well on my Windows 7 machine and on an XP machine with a single-core Athlon and a 64mb. graphics subsystem. The graphics are very nice and the volume is easily adjusted. I found this game very tedious, and I do not plan to continue playing it. The mahjong games are much too simple, and much less interesting than Windows 7 Mahjong Titans. The hidden object parts of the game are annoying. Why would one associate frog spawn with a dish of bright red berries? This game needs more work. It needs humor, excitement, and drama. Mahjong Secrets is now deadly dull. Adults are unlikely to take much interest in this game, and I think children will have difficulty playing it because the instructions are too vague. One thing I like about this game is that it doesn't need to be uninstalled. All the files stay in one folder, which can be easily deleted.

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Thank you for your feedback Walter.

It's late! It's been a REALLY looooong day! Not bad. Just reeeeeeeally looooong.

I'm not going to download today's game. The "shuffle to often" comments kinda turned me off to this one.

I'm just going to play "Alice's Magical Mahjong" again. It's hard to beat that one.

Hi!

Downloaded to 8.1 easily, longer download than some recently, but not too long. Graphics are good and plays very easy! I went into the easy mode, which made it too easy, but would be good for children or beginners. Have to try in the harder mode. Played a few levels and is really smooth playing. Mixture of mahjong and matching makes it a little more interesting. Not much to the story so far.

Thanks for another good game and have a good week!

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Thank you for your feedback Lee

The graphics are wonderful and the storyline is not to bad.
The need to shuffle after just a few moves is frustrating.
I do not mind having to play many rounds to complete a level because it extends the game play. The HOA association is very enjoyable because you have to think about what to link the item to.
So far I am a happy camper with this game.

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Glad you like it Karen :)

I felt it looked familiar although I don't recall playing it before. Higgins comment explains why.

Not a bad mahjong game but I don't feel there's anything truly special about it.

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Thanks for your feedback Patrick

A nice little game for a spare moment. I did have some difficulty with the HO but eventually worked out what was required. The many reshuffles are a bit of a nuisance but graphics are clear and tiles easily distinguished from others. This is a keeper. Thanks Playrix.

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Thanks for your feedback DJ

Help Please....Will not open on widescreen monitor. I tried all the resolutions above what it stated and still says same thing. Is there anything else I can do?

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Thanks for your feedback Unruly, are you getting any error messages? If not check the logs to see if there's any thing there (via the event viewer/event log.

Also follow the link I've provided in my review that takes you to the FAQ's thread over in the Game discussion forums, you may find a fix there.

#19 -- "Munchausen"

Good catch -- thx! Thought I had recognized the graphics from somewhere.

It's labeled as a mahjong game, so it seems all kinds of wrong that the mahjohng play is the most tedious part of it.

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I agree with you. I used to love HOG games (what we used to call I Spy), but with the number released over the last several years I had my fill, but I actually enjoyed the HOG parts of this game. Now I come to think of it, I do have a vague recollection of the scenes from the Munchausen game given away last year. Sadly I've formatted my drive twice since then and no longer have the game.

Higgins is correct. The background graphics and ,so far, the match games are right out of "The Surprising Adventures of Munchausen". It looks like all they did was to add a map graphic and threw in the Mahjong puzzles. I haven't had time to play the entire game yet but I am having trouble following the story line since it is so similar to the Munchausen game. I've been coming to this website since 2009 and this is the first Playrix game given away that I've found disappointing. Thanks anyway, Team.

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Playrix are just the distributor of this game, it was actually developed by Dikpbraz Games. Can anyone confirm whether last years "The Surprising Adventures of Munchausen" was created by the same developer. I wouldn't have tohught Playrix would do such an obvious rip -off

I agree with @higgins above - I've only played the first level of Mahjonng, but the puzzle that followed was very similar to the Adventures of Munchausen and had the same background as one of those in that game. It was as if they'd used the background, but changed the association game bits.

I noticed as the game was installing that there was a file called "munchausen" something, but as it happened so fast I didn't see exactly what it was.

I agree with Stephen, it does seem a bit naughty but I've noticed with other HOGs and HOPAs that the same game developers do use the same backgrounds on occasions. I'm just slightly surprised that Playrix would do so - they are usually so very professional with their games. Perhaps this is an older one.

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Hi Margaret, as mentioned in Linda's comment just below yours, the actual game was created by a developer called Dikobraz Games, Playrix have acted as the distributor rather than the actual developer. there's a chance they wern't aware of the similarities.

Some of the scenes look familiar to me also . The middle of the town or town square if you will, The guard at the gate with the cannon, the princess on the balcony, etc. Not exactly the same but very familiar to some other game or games whose name(s) I don't recall though.

Been playing for awhile and it does get a little boring. I also find the constant shuffling a little bit annoying but most of what I've played so far hasn't had a lot of shuffling. Some of the Mahjong games seem to be a bit longer than necessary dragging out the game.

It's also difficult to see some of the matching items in the circle.

I had to quit because it was moving somewhat slow but I'll return again after I get a look at the Sunday Paper.:-)

Again I thank you Stephen aka White Rabbit for taking the time to keep all of this together. Stay healthy and get enough rest. That more important than what you do here. It will still be here when you get here and so will we.

In relation to your celebration/remembrance that you attended we will be celebrating Armistice Day or as it's now known as Veterans Day here on Tuesday. Remembering the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month signing of the Armistice Agreement of WW1. We do appreciate our cousins across the pond and in my case our Canadian friends also across Lake Ontario to the North of New York State.

Stay Well friend.

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Thanks for your excellent feedbacak and well wishes.

Hello Stephen,

Thank you for the review and screenshots.
It is odd, many of them are showing Hidden Object scenes that can be found in "The Surprising Adventures of Munchausen", a game I enjoyed to play as it was offered here some time ago.
It is still installed on my computer actually, the date is 03/08/13.

Not sure that's a good thing. Maybe a good way to make low cost games?

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Thanks for the feedback Higgins. Personally, if they are using material from another game, i think it's cheating those who have previously purchased the original, then buy the new version with the copied scenes. I'd not noticed, but then my memory is appalling due to head injuries and opiate meds.

Though I'm not a fan of mahjong games, the association game of pairing items with other things in the scene was so much fun that it was easy to look at the mahjong part as a "necessary evil" to get to the really neat stuff. Scenes were pretty & I'd love to see Playrix put together a game with much more of the association puzzles. Thanks GGOTD.

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Thanks for the feedback, glad you liked it Lurker Cat. I like the combinations in some games, for example the match three melded with rpg and fighting. Good fun, wothout the blood.

I love all Mahjong games. I really enjoyed this one. Installed fine and beautiful graphics to boot.

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Thanks for the feedback Infernomom

Am I right we had this game already some time ago?
Or I had it from somwhere else. Can't remember.

I like it but as I already played through it I deleted it.

Thanks and curiously waiting for the next weekend.

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No we've not had this one before. Plenty of Mahjong solitaire games, but never this one.

I had the same experience as comment 4, pq, on my XP SP2 desktop. It worked okay on my 8.1 laptop. Perhaps a problem with older XP systems? As for the game itself, it's cute but if you want a real game of mahjong ("mahjong solitaire") look no further than Mahjong Suite. It is not free but you can often get it on sale and it's worth the money. Thank you GGOTD team, the moderator, and Playrix Entertainment.

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I agree, Mahjong Suite is excellent value for money, even at full price.

Responding to post 1 and reply, I thought Solitare Mahjong (single player) was called Shanghai Mahjong. At least that is what I heard in China town (NYC). 4winds / Mahjong was 2-4 Shanghai was 1. It really didn't start getting it named changes till silicone valley programers started pushing out the games left and right. I think back on a Macintosh book cd it had Shanghai and a verson of Mahjong ( 4wind )

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Thanks for your feedback Banupebu. The following link leads to a brief history of Mahjong, though it only covers the traditional 4 Winds version of the game.


http://www.mahjongsets.co.uk/origins-mahjong.html


This prompted me to search for sets on EBAy and was pleasantly surprised to see my old set there. I'm considering getting one of those bamboo boxed sets with the gorgeous dragon print on the front of the box an ornate handles. My tiles look better than the tiles contained in the box, but the case mine came in no longer has a catcha s it broke through constant use back in the late 70's and 80's. Not played the game for years due to not finding anyone to play with until i purchased Hong Kong Mahjong version several years ago, which enables you to play against computer A.I.

I like Mahjong games, although this one is quite simple, which is not a bad thing though. Graphs are nice and colourful. I do have a deja vu again. The background images come from another HOG. I like it that you have to pair objects in the minipuzzles, although sometimes it is hard to find the matching one, not knowing what they are after. I have been enjoying the game this afternoon, but after a while it is much of the same. The quality of the puzzles are not great, because you have to shuffle all the time to end it; even after one match. I believe this can be better and am a bit disappointed. I am not using the Undone button anymore, because after level 5 or so, using it resulted in crashing the game and the only thing I could do was switching off the computer. It happened twice after using the Undone button, so that spoils it a bit. The music is fine and so far not annoying. Anyway I think it is a nice game when you have some minutes to spare. It is not Playrix best, but it is relaxing and fun for a while. Thank you.

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Thanks for your feedback Merlyne. I've not encountered any crashes yet, but haven't progressed very far. Not had the time.

Installed fine with Vista.

I've played it for about half an hour, and it seems a simple enough game to while away a bit of time time. It isn't hard, it isn't frustrating, it's more of a pass-time sort of game rather than one to sit down with for a long time. Nice to use to unwind.

The symbols are simply drawn and are easy to see, so matching isn't difficult. The matching games are unusual and take a bit of thought.

All in all, a nice little game to while away the time on Britain and The Commonwealth's Remembrance Sunday. Thanks.

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Thanks for your feedback Mum

I am not very good at mahjong with the "normal" tile set so I love the tile set on this game! Very colorful and easy to make matches rather than counting dots and bamboo! I also like the grayed out tiles for ones that can't be matched with the option of turning it off for those who are better at mahjong or want more of a challenge.

I almost gave up because the first few boards required too much shuffling (at least for me) but I like the unlimited shuffle & undo. At least it's a mahjong game I will be able to finish.

I didn't care for the hidden object "association" part at first because the graphics didn't seem that clear but once I got past the first one and the hang of it, I found it enjoyable. I do like HOGs so combining it with this mahjong really made the game for me! Only thing that would make it better for me would be more hidden objects... but then it really wouldn't be a mahjong game, would it?

Nice, relaxing game to whittle away some time here and there. Thanks, Playrix & GGOTD, for a great game!

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Thanks for your feedback TopazMystique

I always enjoy mahjong games, so thank you. My situation is different than most people because I have multiple sclerosis and use one finger, so this game is perfect for me.

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Thanks for your feedback Joyce. sorry to hear about the MS, I hope you are in remission for a long time.

I only played the first Mahjong & HO scenes of this game. As is typical for Playrix, the graphics are nice and bright. I can't speak too much of the story, but I never care about them with these types of games anyway. They are usually a means to an end and not integral to the game play or even very interesting to me.

I like both Mahjong and HO type games. So far, the Mahjong looks VERY easy to complete. I like that the graphics on the tiles are clear and simple to differentiate without being ugly. Some Mahjong games make it a challenge to decipher the tiles and those I really hate because it takes away from the game. I presume that the Mahjong will get more difficult as the game progresses. If so, I think I will enjoy this simply for the Mahjong alone. As WhiteRabbit stated, you can shuffle the board at any time. Some people don't like that with their Mahjong. Personally, I do. I play for relaxation and not clearing a board leaves me feeling a bit frustrated. I like it better if I can clear a board without a shuffle, but if I have to, that's fine with me. In order to progress in this game, you must clear the board.

The first HO was interesting. You aren't given a list of things to find, you are given a picture list of clues. When you hover over the clue picture, a pop-up shows a one-word clue about it. Sometimes it is simply the name of the item "saw", other times it is a property of the item that is a clue, ex. there is a picture of fire, the text clue is "heat".

This is a merchant's tent, so there are dead animals laying about everywhere. I'm no vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, but the scene seemed a little gruesome to me. Maybe it was the impression of a slovenly merchant that wasn't attractive; dead animals were just strewn about the place. I think I wouldn't have minded so much if it looked a bit orderly.

One of the clues is a fish with a hook in it's mouth (the hook is a bit hard to see). Do you click one of the dead fish on the cart or a fishing pole or how about the seahorse that looks like it's floating in the vase? I could think of multiple possibilities for a single clue. One time, I think the clue was actually the item I clicked on ( I was randomly clicking in frustration on that one and the item was well blended into the background so I'm not certain what I clicked). This makes the HO much more difficult than normal and that may appeal to HO enthusiasts looking to spice their game play up a bit. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I like HO, but I get bored with them. I was feeling a bit frustrated with this one because there was so much that could be attributed to the one clue and there were some matches that simply didn't make any sense to me.

As far as I can tell, there is no click penalty, which is a relief, but I was playing in the "casual" mode. That may be different for the more difficult mode.

Overall, if you enjoy both types of games, this is a nice package featuring both. Playrix always has good looking games that usually play well. The menu lists a "Free Play" mode which is greyed out right now. I presume that when you complete the game you can replay any scene you've done. This may end up being a very nice feature for those levels that are challenging, but not too challenging, if the mahjong boards and HO scenes shuffle randomly for each iteration. Then you could replay just those boards/scenes that you enjoy the most as many times as you want.

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Thanks for your excellent feedback Melika, very much appreciated :)

Hi, Thank You for Mahjong Secrets! Game I didn't have or played before (best indication it's not in my vast collection and sometimes forgotten is naturally 'clean slate' where my name has to be yet placed, like in today's case:) and on top of it - Game consisting of 3 elements I favor: Mahjong, Hidden Objects, Playrix (occasionally not 'delivering' graphics expected of them, but very decent in this Game). All spelling welcome promise and hours of fun for good few evenings. Those of us in UK who followed earlier solemn and poignant (especially this year marking Centenary of WW1) Remembrance Day Ceremony - would no doubt welcome even more lighter moment of this Sunday - that is awaiting Game, allowing to calm thoughts down and switch off sadness.. Thank You GGOTD for this Gift. Much appreciated. I will try to come back to post-giveaway comments to add my technical impression of this Game.

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Thank you for the feedback Fran. Yes Rememberance is and always has been a reflexive day for me. My grandfather lost a hand in the first world war and my great uncle on my mothers side who lost his life in the battle of Jutland.

We went to the Rememberance day parade this morning with our children (explorer scouts and girl guides).

Has anyone else notice how the protagonists in these games always seem to be female? What's up with that? (Both rhetorical questions.)

This game is available 24/7 from GameTop and MyPlayCity.

It is a reasonable Mahjong game. There are not options for alternate tilesets but the tiles used are easy to distinguish which makes matching easier.

Being a mixture, makes it fun. It's not all the same game.

Not getting stuck isn't necessarily bad. The purpose of a game is to relax - not stress out about getting stuck. However, the shuffle can be near useless! There have been many times when a shuffle will only yield ONE match and then you have to shuffle again. It does tell you when you have no matches.

All in all, it's a keeper. After all - it's free. :D

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Thank you for your feedback Diane

I completely agree with Whiterabbit’s conclusion. I enjoy playing the mahjong games, as well as the HOG’s, and this is a good combination of the two, but it does get a little tedious having to play so many mahjong boards to move to the next level. Also, some of the boards have to be shuffled quite often. That being said, I do like the basic intent of the game and find the graphics and the music enjoyable, as well.

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Thank you for your feedback Diana :)

when click on setup.exe nothing follow on.

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Hi PQ, are you clicking on the brown/orange colored icon with the key symbol or the setup gcd icon? You must use the one with the key symbol, not the gcd file.

Hello. I love the visuals on this game, beautiful graphics. I feel this might be targeted to entry level or children, to introduce them to Mahjong, and for that I can't fault it. Mahjong aficionados might need a bigger challenge, but this game is a pleasurable pastime. Thanks.

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Thank you for your feedback Sticky Steve, yes i agree, a good one for newcomers to the genre. :)

Quand donc cessera t'on d'appeler Mahjong des jeux qui n'ont absolument rien à voir avec le vrai mahjong? Il s'agit, au mieux, de "Mahjong Solitaire", un stupide jeu qui se joue seul, avec les pièces du jeu de mahjong, mais qui n'a absolument aucun rapport avec le jeu de mahjong réel, qui se joue à plusieurs, et est un des grands jeux de société, comme le go, les échecs ou les dames. J'aimerais beaucoup trouver un jeu de mahjong pour ordinateur, mais malheureusement, à cause de tous ces éditeurs qui publient sous le nom de mahjong des jeux qui n'ont qu'un rapport lointain avec le vrai mahjopng, il est devenu totalement impossible de rechercher le terme "mahjong" sans tomber sur tous ces "fakes". Très mauvais point donc pour Playrix, qui n'échappe pas à la règle!

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Translated using Google Translate:

So when do we stop calling Mahjong games that have absolutely nothing to do with the real mahjong? It is, at best, "Mahjong Solitaire", a silly game played only with the parts of the mahjong game, but that has absolutely no relation to the real mahjong game, which is played in several and is one of the great games, such as go, chess or checkers. I'd love to find a mahjong game for computer, but unfortunately, because of all those publishers who publish under the name of mahjong games that are only distantly related to the true mahjopng it became totally impossible search for the term "mahjong" without seeing all these "fakes". So very bad point for Playrix, not exception to the rule!

En réponse à votre commentaire

Je suis totalement d'accord avec vous. Je jouais Mahjong de préférence aux échecs Whan je étais dans mon adolescence. Je l'ai trouvé un jeu beaucoup plus difficile, plus vous pourriez jouer avec quatre joueurs contre seulement deux. Je dois encore mon jeu de tuiles de mahjong qui sont soutenus bambou. Il ya quelques quatre joueurs des jeux de mahjong authentiques disponibles sous forme numérique. Celui que je suis est appelé Hong Kong Mahjong que vous trouverez via le lien suivant:

http://www.ninedragons.com/

Je ne pense qu'ils devraient être appelés Mahjong Solitaire plutôt que de Mahjong, afin de faire la distinction entre les deux versions du jeu


Merci pour vos commentaires Rol

Sorry its taken so long to post the full review, we went to the scouts and guides rememberance parade and had some family issues to sort out this afternoon (homework with the kids). I need to redo the images as I forgot to reduce the size before uploading. Will sort that once I've completed the extra games section. :)


Mahjong Secrets

In Brief

A simple solitaire mahjong game with hidden Object elements and a story. Excellent graphics overal, tohugh the mahjong tiles are quite simplistic, but easily distinguished compared to some solitaire mahjong games I have.

Installation:

Mahjong Secrets downloads to an 131 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup file (the orange colored file with the key symbol), plus there's a setup file with security (setup.gcd) that's protected from being hacked (because the previous giveaway system was easily cracked). This file may case some security software to alert the user to a possible malware attack, but it will be a false positive.

The game giveaway team check all game giveaways for malware using several well known anti -malware suites. There has never been a game giveaway infected with malware since the project started back in Dec 2006. (The owners know that allowing such things would compromise their buisness, so they make sure all software given away via the giveaway and gamegiveaway sites are throughly checked for all types of malware before allowing community members to download any files.

Some community members have been having problems installing games since the security software was added a couple of years ago. It's been found that turning off your security temporarily or, especially if you don't feel comfortable turning off your security, configuring it to accept the setup.cgd file. That usually sorts the problem out.



To register and install the game click on the orange colored icon. The installed game is 161 MB in size. and installs to the following path by default:


C:\Program files x86\Playrix Games\Mahjong Secrets\


The path can be changed to suit wherever you prefer to install your games. I install all my games onto separate hard drives. Those with large memory requirements I place on a solid state drive (J Drive) and most arcade games go on my spanned F drive (two drives making up 4TB). Once the game is installed you can delete the giveaway setup files. is a shortcut installed to the desktop and the Start menu. There's also an uninstaller in the Start menu, but, if you have Win 8 it is easier to use the uninstall tool via the control panel, or go directly to the game sinstalled folder and use the uninstaller. There's also a shortcut pointing to Playrix's web site, which can be deleted with no affect on the game.




The game works on both Win 7 and 8.1. I don't have a Vista or XP installed any more, so can't comment on whether the game will run on those platforms.

Introduction:

Plunge into the intricacies of royal life with this all-new Mahjong game! One day the kingdom's young Princess finds out that she has a twin sister kidnapped many years ago. Help reunite the royal family! Set out on a mysterious journey: solve quests and mini games, enjoy dozens of different layouts and reveal the Mahjong Secrets!

Reference accessed HERE 9th Nov 2014

If you miss todays giveaway, or have probelms installing or getting it to work, you could try the free versions available from Gametop and MyPlayCity. Do be aware that toolbars may be installed or browsers hijacked or home pages changed if you don't uncheck tick boxes during installation, and that your browser will be opened to the respective sites when you close the game down.

The Game:


Mahjong Secrets is an interesting fusion of Hidden Object, Adventure and Mahjong.

The basic game play in Mahjong Secrets is that you complete board after board of Mahjong where you are rewarded with an inventory item after finishing each board. You can use that item to interact with things in the scene to complete the tasks similar to those in HOPA games (Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure), then you move on to the next scene. At the start of each new scene, there will be a type of Hidden Object puzzle. They are not really Hidden Object scenes more like match the items given to the items in the scene, for example, in the first scene you match a squirrel with nuts and a hand skyth with hay a rifle with a pheasant (that's hanging upside down), frog spawn with tadpoles, a horse with a sea horse, a diamond with a pearl and a hand saw with a sword fish. There's no timer whjen searching for these matches and there appears to be no consequences for clicking any where you wish.

The Hidden Object scenes have nice graphics, however, they are quite frustrating. Sometimes it is really hard to find objects that are relevant and sometimes they are not very obvious. The Hint button reloads at an extremely slow rate so it doesn't give you much help.

The Mahjong boards are as entertaining as Mahjong can be and they can be skipped after the Skip button fully loads (took sometime though). Hardcore Mahjong fans might find this game a disappointment because the Mahjong boards are not very challenging as well as not very fancy to play. They are standard boards with Shuffle and Undo button and it is impossible to get stuck since every time you get stuck; you can shuffle the board instantly. In some cases, especially towards the end of the table you may find you are shuffling virtually every other move and in some cases two or three shuffles in sucession beofre you are able to match any tiles.

There are two playing modes casual and expert. The former mode has active zones highlighted with sparkles and the skip and hint buttons recharge faster, whereas the latter mode has no active zones indicated and the skip and hint buttons take longer to recharge.

On the other hand, the visuals in Mahjong Secrets are very appealing. All scenes are brightly lit and are very colorful; characters are nice-looking as well. The music is very charming and is not annoying. There is also a story to follow and although it might not be the most original one; it is interesting to follow.

Reference accessed HERE 9th Nov 2014

Music:

If you don't like the in game music, you should be able to exchange the music files which are located via the path below:

C:\Program files x86\Playrix Games\Mahjong Secrets\sounds

If you decide you'd like to change some of the music I'd consider keeping a copy of all of the original ogg files at least until you've tested and made sure the game still runs properly. Make sure that you rename all exchanged music files with the ones you are replacing, and also make sure you convert each file to the ogg format as well. :)




Video:

You can see several video's of via the following videos HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.





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System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/8
CPU: At least 1.6 GHz (single core)
sysRAM: 1024 MB (1GB)
Direct X: 9.0 or higher
Hard Drive: 165 MB


Conclusion:
The game is quite frustrating and boring at times. However, its package is very attractive and the idea behind this game is good; it just needs a little work here and there. An ideal game for all the family.

Overall I give this a thumbs up, especially if you love Mahjong solitaire. There's no innovation apart from mixing adventure, HOG and Mahjong together , but the game is well constructed and also gives you two modes casual and expert .






Scoring:

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 8
Sound & Music: (You can change the music if you wish) 7
Replayability: 7
Originality: 7

Total = 7.2 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.

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. :)

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



There's 195 games on sale at the moment over on Steam, you can find them all HERE. 50% off Wolfenstein, 50% off Tropico 5, 75% off most of the LEGO titles (popular ones include Lord of the Roings, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Marvel super Heroes), 50% off Lethal League, 50% off Grid autosport, 50% off Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, 75% off Guns of Icarus Online, 50% off VVVVVV, 75% off Theatre of War 2: Franchise, 75% off Men of War franchise, 75% off Spellforce Platinum Edition, 75% off spellforce 2: Faith in Destiny, 75% off Chaos on Deponia, 66% off Blackguards, 75% off Sacred Gold, 86% off Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition, 75% off Omerta: City of Gangsters, 75% off Tower Wars, 75% off Huntsman: The Orphanage (Halloween Edition), 50% off Nail;d, 66% off Conquest of elysium 3, 75% off Return to Mysterious Island, 75% off Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star, 75% off Haegemonia: The Solon Heritage, 50% off Dominions 3: The Awakening, 50% off Bedlam, 50% of Gauge, 80% off amerzone: The Explorers Legacy, 75% off Realms of the Haunting, 85% off Patrician III66% off Chip, 85% off Hacker evolution, 50% off Narco Terror, 70% off Street Racing syndicate, 60% off Alea Jacta Est, 50% off Panzer Tactics, 66% off Lead & Gold: Gangs of the wild West, 66% off Pixel Puzzles: Japan, 80% off Hyper Fighters, 50% off Prehistorik75% off Iron Warriors: T-72 Tank Command, 75% off Hard Truck apocalypse: Rise of the Clans, 50% off Wanderlust Rebirth, 50% off Draconian Wars, 60% off Inversion, 90% off Wasteland angel, 75% off IHF Handball Challenge 14, 75% off Hippocampal: The White Sofa, 90% off Glacier 3: Meltdown, plus loads more great deals.

You'll also find some excellent deals over on the following Game sites, some of which have summer sales on. I've been selling my Steam trading cards and have already amassed nearly £200 just from selling these cards. i sold one for over £4 last week. all proceeds are going towards games. :)

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. I've updated the Indie Game bundle thread to include all the latest bundles. you'll find that thread HERE.

The latest IndieGameStand game is Barter Empire, if you pay over the average, which at the time of writing was $1.88 you will also get a second game called Elements: Soul of Fire. Both games are on Steams Greenlight project, so, if they get Greenlit, you will get a Steam key.

This bundle ends around 5am (GMT)Tuesday 11th Nov.

The latest Daily Indie game is Lucien, a 3D open world horror adventure. You can get two keys if you pay more than $1.10; (one for a friend or family member perhaps?). You'll find that deal HERE. They also have a couple of bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 HERE. The single game deal ends Midnight tonight (less than 6 hours to go) (GMT)

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.
There's a new free game available from Origin called Crusader: No Remorse, a retro Strategy shooter originally released back in 1995.

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A Request for help:

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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