Game Giveaway of the Day

#1

Nearwood:

In Brief:

Purported to be the last Hidden Object game the developer MagicIndie softworks will be creating (the developer of the excellent Brink of Consciousness games). You'll find this a gorgeously illustrated Hidden Object game, with quality puzzles and excellent HOG scenes. HOG fans won't be disappointed. There's options for wide screen and standard monitors and three modes of play, casual, normal and expert, so all community members should find a niche within this game where they can enjoy the game play without it being too difficult. I love the fly by you see on the main menu, it reminded me of the 3D scene I sat through when we last visited Disney in Florida

Thank you to Playrix Entertainment for this excellent arcade game, it's very much appreciated

N.B.

This is a large download so for those with very slow internet connections I would advise downloading as soon as you are able

If you miss today's giveaway the Collectors Edition is available free 24/7 from MyPlayCity but not from Gametop or TooMky Games. The advantage of installing the giveaway version is that there is no chance of getting toolbars, home page changes, browser changes, and your browser is never opened to the donators web site when you close the game down, like it is if you get the game from any of the other free arcade game sites.

I purchased this via Steam almost two years ago. I know of at least one other giveaway community member who has this on Steam as well (Jason) :)

Installation:

Nearwood downloads to a 778 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup activation 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. 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 installed game is 803 MB in size and is installed via the following path.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Nearwood

There is two desktop shortcuts installed, one for the game and one that takes you to Playrix's site; you can delete the latter if you wish, it won't affect game play.

Once installed you can delete the giveaway setup files.

The game works on Win 7 and Win 10 computers, unfortunately I can't confirm whether it works on Win 8 as I've now upgraded all of my Win 8 computers.

Introduction:

Fix the Clock of Equilibrium to banish evil powers from the Nearwood Kingdom! Everybody likes fairy tales - even grown-ups, but they never confess to it! Welcome to the ravishing game Nearwood and engross yourself in the magnificent atmosphere of a wonderful fantasy world! As is usual with these HOG's, the main characters of the story have to overcome lots of difficulties to come to the paradise world where they will be happy for the rest of their lives. In the game Nearwood Collector’s Edition you learn about the history of the Lockwood family. Nathan and Elisabeth Lockwood were the happiest pair who loved each other to distraction, they lived happily in the small house not far from the beautiful forest. Unfortunately Elizabeth had a fatal accident Nathan in his grief disappeared and nobody saw him again. Play the game Nearwood and help Jane Lockwood reveal the truth about her parents! Together with Jane you appear in the Lockwood’s house where your adventures begin! Meet the wise gnome Fey the Adviser and appear in the miraculous world of Nearwood! Nathan is alive, he has been kept in a secret place in the Nearwood Kingdom – evil powers that have enslaved the kingdom keep him there. It is your task to save the man.

Choose the mode you feel most comfortable with and start your adventures right now! If you are a beginner, it’s better for you to play the game in a casual mode where all the areas are highlighted and the hints recharge quickly. If you consider yourself a seasoned player of HOG's, try the expert mode to confirm your skills. You can only guess where you should go to look for extra clues and, moreover, you play without hints, so it’s quite the challenge.

Jane won’t be able to cope with undertaking missions alone, help her find her father! Centuries ago the Nearwood Kingdom was enslaved by evil powers that turned the placid world into hell-like wastelands. The wise Time Keepers did their best to suppress the darkness by inventing the magical artifact “Clock of Equilibrium”. This clock was rumored to obtain the huge power that can turn the day into the night and resurrect the dead. Evil powers had been locked there for centuries until the desperate scientist Nathan Lockwood found it to revive his dead wife. He was not a success, evil powers captured him and imprisoned him in the Clock.

Help Jane solve numerous puzzle to release her father from the imprisonment and banish the dark powers back to hell! There are lots of gorgeous hidden object scenes where you are to find all the items from the list and train your quick wits in the interesting mini-games. Explore picturesque locations and plunge into the stunning atmosphere of a beautifully-drawn fairytale! Find funny Snoop-sees and unlock the chapters in the Snoopedia where you will read a lot about the Nearwood inhabitants.

Edited reference accessed HERE 24rd Jan 2016

Reviews:

You can see some Big Fish mini reviews of Nearwood HERE, just scroll down to the middle of the page. You can also find forum discussions HERE.

Walkthrough:

You can find walkthroughs HERE and HERE.

The Game:

Ah, the idyllic life. Hanging out at gazebos, frolicking in the flowers. Jane Lockwood remembers those days well. But her memories aren’t without a dark side. Her mother passed away when she was young, and her father vanished shortly after. Jane spent most of her childhood with her aunt Sheryl. Upon her passing, Sheryl left a note hinting at a secret she had been keeping for years. It seems the magical world Jane pictured when she was growing up was less of a fantasy and more of a real thing. As soon as she arrives at her childhood home, Jane meets Fey, a strange little man who guides her to the realm of Nearwood. And it’s here in Nearwood where you’ll explore sights as strange and wondrous as you could possibly imagine.

Nearwood is a casual adventure game that includes a healthy amount of mini-games, inventory puzzles, and items scattered in every corner of every screen. Using objects you find as you explore, you’ll slowly clear paths that lead to, well, more puzzles to solve and more things to find! Proper hidden object scenes are fairly uncommon in Nearwood. When you do encounter them, they’re generally pretty short and feature item silhouettes you’ll need to pick out in a crowded scene.

Jane will encounter plenty of oddities in the bright fantasy world of Nearwood. From giant rock creatures, to frogs the size of a small car, to plants that could (and would) swallow you whole, this world would be a nightmarish place if it weren’t for the sparkling colors and cheery disposition of your guide. Oh, and let’s not forget about the Snoop-Sees. These small owl-like creatures are hidden throughout the game, turning the entire world of Nearwood into a hidden object scene. Locate them to unlock chapters in a special storybook comic you’ll get to read as you play.

Nearwood is also a visually stunning game. It may be tempting to use words like that when describing games that are “pretty” or “well illustrated,” but in this case, stunning is the only word that fits. Each and every location in Nearwood is brushed with gorgeous colors and vibrant animations. The creatures come alive, the environments feel warm and realistic, and when the evil shadow creature swirls around, you’ll swear it’s made of real smoke. Very rarely do we see casual games with this much attention to the artwork, giving Nearwood yet another trophy to add to its collection.

It’s hard to find an honest fault in Nearwood. The graphics are amazing, the puzzles are tightly constructed and logical, mini-games are creative and challenging, and there are enough extras to keep you entertained for hours. Nearwood is the kind of game that makes you excited to see what awaits you beyond the next bend in the road. For that reason alone, the experience is next to magical.

Reference accessed HERE 24rd Jan 2016

Another review by Aaron Sirois

Nearwood has you playing as a young woman by the name of Jane Lockwood. When she was young, her mother died and her father disappeared. Now an adult, she has been given the key to her family home. There she finds a creature from another world, who tells her that she and her family used to visit the land of Nearwood when she was a child. That world needs help, and it’s apparent that her father is trapped there. Jane heads off without a second glance.

There’s not really all that much of plot to this game. It’s all about heading to a specific location, and when you get there, the game ends. However, there are several stops along the way that introduce you to the denizens of the world. These sections are pretty cool, apart from the one that defies all forward progression in the feminist movement. It involves a village where all the men were kidnapped. The woman you talk to laments that they have no one to hunt or fix things. Sigh. Still, the atmosphere is quite nice, and the world is a nice one to visit. The bonus chapter has you returning to the land in order to stop a new threat, and shows off how easily it would be to expand the lore through the addition of more races and places.

Visually, the game is solid. While the character models don’t animate too much, at least the whole head moves when someone is talking. The game also does a pretty good job about showing emotions in characters, which is a rarity for the genre. The land of Nearwood is pretty great looking. They really went out of their way to create a unique style for the game. The first thing you see when you arrive is a giant hulking magical mech that has fallen to ruin at a fork in the road. It sets the tone quite well. I also think of this as one of the few games where the weird thingamabobs you need to open doors or unlock pedestals actually fit with the world they inhabit. Nothing seems horribly out of place.

Where the game works best is the audio. There are a bunch of different voiced characters, and they all sound pretty great. There were only a handful of awkward lines. Normally, that would be a fairly large percentage of the voices, but this game is chock full of voice acting. I would say that I’m impressed, but considering how incredible the voice work was for Dorian Gray, I expected nothing less. The rest of the aural package is pretty solid. The music has this nice combination of wonderment and sadness that harkens to the feel of the Harry Potter soundtrack. It fits like a glove. The effects are as solid as ever, and nothing sounds out of place. It’s above the bar on all accounts.

Nearwood uses a different kind of hidden object mechanic. Instead of giving you words on a list, the puzzles are more of a visual nature. You’re given the shadow of the object you need to find. On top of that, you usually need to find pieces of a larger object. For example, to make a rope ladder, you need to find the ropes and rungs separately. The downside is that finding pieces is really easy, since they stand out against the background. Another type of HOS the game uses is one where you need to move objects on screen to a certain spot. For example, you have a mural with a bunch of gnomes on it. They are missing items, as shown by the outline of said items near them. You need to find the items on the screen and drag them into place to continue. This was pretty cool. I always enjoy when developers mix things up.

Most of the game, as usual, is classic point and click stuff. You move from place to place, finding items to add to your inventory and using them to progress. It can be as simple as finding a key to a door, or using a umbrella handle to fish out an out of reach item. There are plenty of times where you need to find multiple objects to open a single door as well, so don’t be surprised if you get some inventory clutter. There’s a map system in place to help you teleport to where you need to be, but it takes time to recharge. You can also use the hint system to find where to go. Both of these are helpful, because the game often has you flying between seven or eight screens to get to where you need to be. The amount of backtracking is nuts, even for a genre where that kind of thing is commonplace.

This game has plenty of mini-games for you to crack. On top of that, they tend to be more involved puzzles that will test your puzzle solving mettle. I skipped more than a couple of them just to save time. Also, they were the kind I really suck at. As usual, you can skip them if you want, and there’s no penalty for doing so. They’re strictly there for those looking for a bit of an extra challenge. Pretty much every puzzle type shows up at some point, and the controls work solid for all but one of them. You can view instructions for each puzzle as well, which keeps you from getting lost. If I recall correctly, there’s actually more mini-games than there are hidden object sequences, which has to be a first.

Reference accessed HERE 24rd Jan 2016

You can also see another excellent review from All About Casual Games HERE

Video:

...........Video footage may contain SPOILERS.......

You’ll find videos of Nearwood (some are from the CE version) game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Music:

If you wish to change the in game music you can find the music files via the following path:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Nearwood\data\Audio\Cues\Ost\x.ost

I recommend backing up the originals first just in case you want to change them back. I personally think the music goes really well with the game and adds atmosphere. You will need to change the names of whatever music you intent using to the same names of the original music. There are 13 tracks with titles like Dawn of ages, Into the Dream, Time Keepers, Sleepy Lands, Season's Change, all very appropriate to this game. I highly recommend you leave the music as it is. :)

System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8
CPU: 2.0 GHz
RAM: 512 MB
DirectX: 9.0
Hard Drive: 1106 MB

Conclusion:

This is an excellent Hidden Object game that should cater for all levels of ability. With gorgeous graphics, good and absorbing game play for thosee who want it and a decent sound track this is definitely a game to get and no doubt wont get too many negatives. Pity some community members will automatically thumb this one down just becasue its a Hidden Object game. 8 out of 10 from me (I'm not a lover of Hidden Object Games, but have already purchased this one via Steam.

Scoring

Game play: 9
Graphics: 9
Audio: 8
Replayability: 7
Originality: 7
Fun Factor: 8

48 out of 60 = 8 out of 10

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Problems:

If you have any problems installing or getting Nearwood working, please go HERE for help. I've posted most 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 do find any other fixes please post them in the FAQ's thread an I'll incorporate them into the thread when I have time (I always attribute fixes posted by the community to the member who posted them. Thank you.

If you think the game is infected - IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

For those of you who are getting hits by your anti malware suites; it's because they are picking up the Themida based protection, which was put in place to protect the game from unscrupulous community members that were hacking the giveaway wrapper which then gave them unlimited access to a registered copy of the game, which was being put on peer to peer sites. Some community members were even uploading video tutorials on You tube telling you how to do it yourself.

Themida based applications are sometimes seen as a threat by anti-malware. I can assure you this game and hundreds before, that have given community members cause for concern have been totally safe. The game giveaway team have managed to secure well over a thousand games for us since they first started giving away games back in late 2006; firstly via the main site (Oct 2006), then via the game giveaway site (early December 2006). There has never 'ever' been an infected game given away.

If you are able to configure your anti-malware suite to allow the 'seemingly offensive' file through security, the game should then install normally. if you can't, or don't know how to, then the other way would be to temporarily turn off your protection. You do so at your own risk, but please do take into account what I've already said above; in a nut shell, every malware occurrence reported here since the game giveaway went live in Dec 2006 have been false positives due to overly sensitive anti-malware suites.

It would be against the giveaway teams best interest to allow such an occurrence as it would destroy their good standing with the big search engines and I'm sure many who have frequented this site for a long time would leave. The giveaway team use several anti-malware suites to test every game given away here.

Another thing to consider when you think the game is infected, if it really was, there would be hundreds of community members posting about the infection; we rarely more than a few posts for any particular game; though, since the gcd file that contains the Themida code was introduced in 2012 I have seen many more community members reporting infections due to the Themida based code found in the giveaways wrapper protection. However, out of the thousands of downloads each week, those numbers are insignificant and supports the fact that the results they are getting are actually false positives. They have always been proven to be so.

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 today's game but it doesn’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at a later date. Unfortunately if your problem is actually downloading it, once the giveaway deadline is reached you will no longer be able to download the game unless you've already started downloading it before the cut-off. 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 the grace period lasts for up to 1 hour. Apart from the above instances; i.e. already installed, but having problems running the game, (with the possibility of receiving help from the community via the giveawayoftheday game discussion forum); or still downloading after the cut off period, but within the 1 hour grace period, or registering within an hour of the cut-off period. Once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done to get the game (unless its available from one of the free game sites) until the game is given away again (though that isn't always guaranteed).

It's worth checking the giveaway game discussion forums the day before the giveaways go live to see if we are getting a large sized file (I usually post a comment about approximately how large a file is if it's likely to cause problems for those with slow connections; however, if I'm particularly busy I may neglect to do this). It is especially important for those who have slow connections and even more so if the game is popular. We can have up to forty thousand (40 000) community members downloading over the 24 hour period (if the game is popular), with the bulk of community members downloading in the first 12 hours of the giveaway going live, there is always a massive strain on the giveaway servers. The bigger the file size, the more community members will be downloading at any one time. Because the bandwidth is shared equally among all community members, downloads can become excruciatingly slow, so if you do have a slow connection, its important to start your download as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Because these games are free, the giveaway owners cannot invest in more bandwidth without compromising the whole project, so we have to be satisfied with what we have at present.

A download manager can help speed the download up and also protect the download in case of an interruption. There's nothing as frustrating for those with really slow connections to have the connection break after an hour or so, then have to start from the beginning again. I would ask community members if you do have decent bandwidth please avoid using a manager as it does add to the number of downloads occurring at any one time, for example some download managers will download your requested file in up to 32 packets simultaneously, that effectively will take 32 download spots, thus slowing down everyone's download speeds. For those with slow downloads (due to having a slow connection e.g. a 2MB Broadband connection or less) I would advise using a download manager if the file is larger than around 200MB. My broadband connection is 100MBs, so I don't need to use a download manager, (I do have one called Internet Download Manager, but don't use it when downloading files from the giveaway site). For me a 1GB file usually downloads in about 1.5 minutes or less. My connection is quite a long way from the provider so it is slowed a little, but is still quite good at a download speed of around 12 to 14 MB's per second.

I hope the above goes some way in explaining why we sometimes have really slow downloads.

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 1400 games to choose from and TooMky Games is highly recommended as well, though sometimes Gametop will have the game when the others don't. Today's game is available 24/7 from from MyPlayCity.

If you do download any games from these free game sites please '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 these free game sites tend to change the format frequently). I've not downloaded any from these sites in ages so can't confirm whether they have changed....... I've posted links to all of the common free game sites below in the 'games, games and yet more games' section. If you do download a game from any of these sites you do so at your own risk. We cannot be held responsible for problems arising from an installation recommended here. :)

The gamegiveaway site is the safest site I know of where you can get free software and games. (BitsduJour is also great for free applications). The only disadvantages with downloading from here is you have to download and install within the day of the giveaway and if and when you upgrade or buy a new computer legally you aren't allowed to transfer games given away previously, unless they are being given away again after you upgrade, or if you've purchased a license. :)

You just have to look at the sites track record since the game giveaway site was created back in December 2006. No games given away here since the inception of the gamegiveaway site have been infected with malware, there are no toolbars installed, nor home pages hijacked or browsers changed. There is one slight annoyance, but that only occurs if a community member isn't paying attention; i.e. when the final window pops up after installing a giveaway, called 'the Software Informer' installation window. Some community members have complained that they were given no choice in its installation. That is not true; when the final window pops up, there are two buttons, one asking if you want Software Informer installed and the button to close the giveaway window down. Some community members have clicked on the wrong button, probably because they weren't paying attention. Thankfully Software Informer is a genuine application, that can easily be uninstalled by the usual means. It's actually a useful piece of software, especially if you have a lot of applications running on your computer. Basically the program will list the programs that need updating, or programs that have available updates. They wont be automatically installed (thus cancelling many giveaway registrations); you have to click on individual buttons to update each program/application. :D

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Games, Games, and yet more Games:

There are 590 games on sale this week, with a new batch of games to come on Monday. You can find all of the games on sale HERE. I won't bother listing any of the games, but it should be worth visiting as there are games for all tastes. Of course you do need to install the Steam client, but IMO it is well worth it. There are lots of free games (not just free to play online games) available plus there are always games on sale. You'll often find other game distributors will sell games with a Steam key and most of the bundled games on sale usually come with a Steam key as well.

You'll find some excellent deals over on the following Game sites.

GreenManGaming They usually have coupons to the value of 23% and sometimes more off pre ordered games. I've pre ordered lots of AAA games from GMG and saved up to 25% off the pre order prices you find on Steam.

Gamersgate Summer Sale
GOG (DRM free games)
Gamestop
GameFly (soon to be sold off)

I've removed the Desura link because the owners are bankrupt and there has been no activity on the site in many months. The servers are still live (at least until Bad JoJo's subscription to the servers has ended, Bad JoJo are the owners of Desura and Indie Royale, or were until filing for bankruptcy). If you own any games via Desura I advise downloading all of the drm free games you have on that platform and on the Indie Royale site before the sites are taken down.

Free Game Sites:

Toomky Games
MyPlayCity (over a 1000 games to choose from)
Gametop
FreeGamePick (I've been told by Diane that FreeGamePick games tend to revert to demo's, can't qualify this tohugh as i don't download from FreeGamePick anymore.

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. you'll find the indie bundles thread HERE. The thread is outdated, but all of the links will still take you to the latest bundles.

The latest IndieGameStand game is Hadean Lands (interactive fiction — a classic text adventure)

Marooned in an alien, airless wasteland — your starship fractured — your crewmates missing. Can an apprentice alchemist learn how to survive?

Hadean Lands is interactive fiction — a classic text adventure. No graphics! No menus! No point-and-click! You type your commands, and read what happens next.

Repairing an alchemical starship single-handed? Not easy; perhaps impossible. You’ll have to discover the rituals you need, and then search for ingredients, and then improvise and substitute. You’ll have to calcine, distill, dissolve, and precipitate. And somehow, somewhere, you’ll have to figure out what happened and why.

You can get the game for $1; pay over the average to get a map of the game, a prototype game and sourse code for Hadean Lands.. (The price at the time of writing was $1.81). The game includes a drm free download.
The deal ends Thursday Jan 28th 2016 5am (GMT)

The latest DIG game is Space Thinger

Space Thinger is a thrilling arcade space shooter! Fight your way through multiple combat zones completing missions, mining asteroids for crystals and collecting the debris of your fallen foes to upgrade your ship and engage in ever more epic space battles.

Pay £0.99 for the game or you can get two keys if you pay more than the average of $0.99 (at the time of writing ). One Steam key to share with a friend or family member perhaps? You'll find that deal HERE. They also have five bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 each HERE (DIG Bundles 49, 50 & 51, reBundle 10 and DIG Greenlight Bundle 3 and 4 ). You get Steam keys for all of these games apart from the DIG Greelight Bundles. If any of those games are added to the Steam store you will get a Steam key, in the mean time, you can download DRM free copies.

The single game deal ends Midnight Monday 25th Jan 2016 and will be replaced with a new game.

Most of the bundles available 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 are some excellent bundles out at the moment. I highly recommend the first four sites as they regularly change their bundles, at least weekly. Bundle Stars is the most prolific, usually with at least 10 bundles, but sometimes a lot more. some bundles stay for months, others for only a few days. I also recommend buying the Greenlight bundles as you will get quite a few being Greenlit and save a large amount of money on newly released games. I reckon at least 75% of the games from those bundles have been Greenlit since I purchased my first Greenlight bundle. (I've bought at least 50 bundles with only Greenlight games and they have never cost more than $3 to $4 per bundle, with savings up to 90%. The flying bundle is the only one that will inform you when a game has been Greenlit and will send you your Steam keys, the rest you have to check your accounts page to see if they have added Steam keys. sometimes it may take several weeks after the game has been released before you get your keys, but generally its either the same day or a few days at the most.

Bundle Stars (26 bundles)
Groupees (3 bundles)
Indie Gala (5 bundles)
Humble bundle (2 Bundles)
Indie Royale (this bundle is no longer live)
Bundle Bandits (0 bundles)
Blink Bundle (0 bundles)
Play Injector (0 bundle)
Get Loaded (0 bundles)
Games Rage (0 bundles)
Flying bundle (1 bundles)

FREE GAME:

The free game from Origin is Jade Empire: Special Edition (Highly Recommended). This game may change soon as it's been available for almost two months now.

Step into the role of an aspiring martial-arts master and follow the path of the open palm or the closed fist. In this multi-award-winning action-RPG, your choices and actions will determine the fate of the entire Jade Empire. Will you prevent the destruction of this beautiful land, or will you crush it beneath your heel? Are you a warrior who uses his strength and fighting mastery to bring peace, or will you instead use your power to bring pain and ruin?
The choice is yours.

Game Features:

The Original Award Winning Jade Empire
An incredible, engaging story that makes you the noble hero or the treacherous villain!
A wealth of fascinating characters to interact with.
Beautiful, mysterious lands to explore, discover, and save...or conquer.
A rich blend of role-playing and exciting real-time combat.
New monsters and enemies.
New fighting styles.
Customizable, intuitive controls including support for game-pads and keyboard/mouse.
Increased graphics resolutions and new visual effects.
Improved combat AI and difficulty levels.
New world map interface.

Check it out HERE.

You do need a free Origin account and install the Origin client to get these free games. Once you've installed the Origin client and signed into your account select 'On the house' from the 'Free Games' drop down menu. Then select download now. The game will then be registered to your Origin account permanently.

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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.

Nearwood:

In Brief:

<blockquote>Purported to be the last Hidden Object game the developer MagicIndie softworks will be creating (the developer of the excellent Brink of Consciousness games). You'll find this a gorgeously illustrated Hidden Object game, with quality puzzles and excellent HOG scenes. HOG fans won't be disappointed. There's options for wide screen and standard monitors and three modes of play, casual, normal and expert, so all community members should find a niche within this game where they can enjoy the game play without it being too difficult. I love the fly by you see on the main menu, it reminded me of the 3D scene I sat through when we last visited Disney in Florida

Thank you to Playrix Entertainment for this excellent arcade game,  it's very much appreciated

<ul>N.B.

This is a large download so for those with very slow internet connections I would advise downloading as soon as you are able</ul></blockquote>

If you miss today's giveaway the Collectors Edition is available free 24/7 from <a href="http://www.myplaycity.com/nearwood/" rel="nofollow">MyPlayCity</a> but not from Gametop or TooMky Games. The advantage of installing the giveaway version is that there is no chance of getting toolbars, home page changes, browser changes, and your browser is never opened to the donators web site when you close the game down, like it is if you get the game from any of the other free arcade game sites.

I purchased this  via Steam almost two years ago.  I know of at least one other  giveaway community member who has this on Steam as well (Jason)  :)

Installation:

Nearwood downloads to a   778 MB  zip file     that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup activation  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. 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 installed game is 803  MB in size and is installed via the following path.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Nearwood

There is two desktop shortcuts  installed, one for the game and one that takes you to Playrix's site; you can delete the latter if you wish, it won't affect game play.

Once installed you can delete the giveaway setup files.

The game works on Win 7  and Win 10 computers, unfortunately I can't confirm whether it works on Win 8 as I've now  upgraded all of my Win 8 computers.

Introduction:

<blockquote>Fix the Clock of Equilibrium to banish evil powers from the Nearwood Kingdom! Everybody likes fairy tales - even grown-ups, but they never confess to it! Welcome to the ravishing game Nearwood and engross yourself in the magnificent atmosphere of a wonderful fantasy world! As is usual with these HOG's, the main characters of the story have to overcome lots of difficulties to come to the paradise world where they will be happy for the rest of their lives. In the game Nearwood Collector’s Edition you learn about the history of the Lockwood family. Nathan and Elisabeth Lockwood were the happiest pair who loved each other to distraction, they lived happily in the small house not far from the beautiful forest. Unfortunately Elizabeth had a fatal accident Nathan in his grief disappeared and nobody saw him again. Play the game Nearwood and help Jane Lockwood reveal the truth about her parents! Together with Jane you appear in the Lockwood’s house where your adventures begin! Meet the wise gnome Fey the Adviser and appear in the miraculous world of Nearwood! Nathan is alive, he has been kept in a secret place in the Nearwood Kingdom – evil powers that have enslaved the kingdom keep him there. It is your task to save the man.

Choose the mode you feel most comfortable with and start your adventures right now! If you are a beginner, it’s better for you to play the game in a casual mode where all the areas are highlighted and the hints recharge quickly. If you consider yourself a seasoned player of HOG's, try the expert mode to confirm your skills. You can only guess where you should go to look for extra clues and, moreover, you play without hints, so it’s quite the challenge.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Jane won’t be able to cope with undertaking missions alone, help her find her father! Centuries ago the Nearwood Kingdom was enslaved by evil powers that turned the placid world into hell-like wastelands. The wise Time Keepers did their best to suppress the darkness by inventing the magical artifact “Clock of Equilibrium”. This clock was rumored to obtain the huge power that can turn the day into the night and resurrect the dead. Evil powers had been locked there for centuries until the desperate scientist Nathan Lockwood found it to revive his dead wife. He was not a success, evil powers captured him and imprisoned him in the Clock.

Help Jane solve numerous puzzle to release her father from the imprisonment and banish the dark powers back to hell! There are lots of gorgeous hidden object scenes where you are to find all the items from the list and train your quick wits in the interesting mini-games. Explore picturesque locations and plunge into the stunning atmosphere of a beautifully-drawn fairytale! Find funny Snoop-sees and unlock the chapters in the Snoopedia where you will read a lot about the Nearwood inhabitants.</blockquote>

Edited reference accessed <a href="http://www.myplaycity.com/nearwood/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> 24rd Jan 2016

Reviews:

You can see some Big Fish mini reviews of Nearwood <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/6485/nearwood-collectors-edition/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, just scroll down to the middle of the page. You can also find forum discussions <a href="http://forums.bigfishgames.com/forums/show/3513.page" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.

Walkthrough:

You can find walkthroughs <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/blog/walkthrough/nearwood-walkthrough/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and <a href="http://www.casualgameguides.com/games/guide/game_guide.cfm/Nearwood-Walkthrough/Cheats-1/game_id-11117/#.VqRMZrEVFFE" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.

The Game:

<blockquote>Ah, the idyllic life. Hanging out at gazebos, frolicking in the flowers. Jane Lockwood remembers those days well. But her memories aren’t without a dark side. Her mother passed away when she was young, and her father vanished shortly after. Jane spent most of her childhood with her aunt Sheryl. Upon her passing, Sheryl left a note hinting at a secret she had been keeping for years. It seems the magical world Jane pictured when she was growing up was less of a fantasy and more of a real thing. As soon as she arrives at her childhood home, Jane meets Fey, a strange little man who guides her to the realm of Nearwood. And it’s here in Nearwood where you’ll explore sights as strange and wondrous as you could possibly imagine.

Nearwood is a casual adventure game that includes a healthy amount of mini-games, inventory puzzles, and items scattered in every corner of every screen. Using objects you find as you explore, you’ll slowly clear paths that lead to, well, more puzzles to solve and more things to find! Proper hidden object scenes are fairly uncommon in Nearwood. When you do encounter them, they’re generally pretty short and feature item silhouettes you’ll need to pick out in a crowded scene.

Jane will encounter plenty of oddities in the bright fantasy world of Nearwood. From giant rock creatures, to frogs the size of a small car, to plants that could (and would) swallow you whole, this world would be a nightmarish place if it weren’t for the sparkling colors and cheery disposition of your guide. Oh, and let’s not forget about the Snoop-Sees. These small owl-like creatures are hidden throughout the game, turning the entire world of Nearwood into a hidden object scene. Locate them to unlock chapters in a special storybook comic you’ll get to read as you play.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Nearwood is also a visually stunning game. It may be tempting to use words like that when describing games that are “pretty” or “well illustrated,” but in this case, stunning is the only word that fits. Each and every location in Nearwood is brushed with gorgeous colors and vibrant animations. The creatures come alive, the environments feel warm and realistic, and when the evil shadow creature swirls around, you’ll swear it’s made of real smoke. Very rarely do we see casual games with this much attention to the artwork, giving Nearwood yet another trophy to add to its collection.

It’s hard to find an honest fault in Nearwood. The graphics are amazing, the puzzles are tightly constructed and logical, mini-games are creative and challenging, and there are enough extras to keep you entertained for hours. Nearwood is the kind of game that makes you excited to see what awaits you beyond the next bend in the road. For that reason alone, the experience is next to magical.</blockquote>

Reference accessed <a href="http://www.gamezebo.com/2013/08/08/nearwood-review/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> 24rd Jan 2016

Another review by Aaron Sirois

<blockquote>Nearwood has you playing as a young woman by the name of Jane Lockwood. When she was young, her mother died and her father disappeared. Now an adult, she has been given the key to her family home. There she finds a creature from another world, who tells her that she and her family used to visit the land of Nearwood when she was a child. That world needs help, and it’s apparent that her father is trapped there. Jane heads off without a second glance.

There’s not really all that much of plot to this game. It’s all about heading to a specific location, and when you get there, the game ends. However, there are several stops along the way that introduce you to the denizens of the world. These sections are pretty cool, apart from the one that defies all forward progression in the feminist movement. It involves a village where all the men were kidnapped. The woman you talk to laments that they have no one to hunt or fix things. Sigh. Still, the atmosphere is quite nice, and the world is a nice one to visit. The bonus chapter has you returning to the land in order to stop a new threat, and shows off how easily it would be to expand the lore through the addition of more races and places.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Visually, the game is solid. While the character models don’t animate too much, at least the whole head moves when someone is talking. The game also does a pretty good job about showing emotions in characters, which is a rarity for the genre. The land of Nearwood is pretty great looking. They really went out of their way to create a unique style for the game. The first thing you see when you arrive is a giant hulking magical mech that has fallen to ruin at a fork in the road. It sets the tone quite well. I also think of this as one of the few games where the weird thingamabobs you need to open doors or unlock pedestals actually fit with the world they inhabit. Nothing seems horribly out of place.

Where the game works best is the audio. There are a bunch of different voiced characters, and they all sound pretty great. There were only a handful of awkward lines. Normally, that would be a fairly large percentage of the voices, but this game is chock full of voice acting. I would say that I’m impressed, but considering how incredible the voice work was for Dorian Gray, I expected nothing less. The rest of the aural package is pretty solid. The music has this nice combination of wonderment and sadness that harkens to the feel of the Harry Potter soundtrack. It fits like a glove. The effects are as solid as ever, and nothing sounds out of place. It’s above the bar on all accounts.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Nearwood uses a different kind of hidden object mechanic. Instead of giving you words on a list, the puzzles are more of a visual nature. You’re given the shadow of the object you need to find. On top of that, you usually need to find pieces of a larger object. For example, to make a rope ladder, you need to find the ropes and rungs separately. The downside is that finding pieces is really easy, since they stand out against the background. Another type of HOS the game uses is one where you need to move objects on screen to a certain spot. For example, you have a mural with a bunch of gnomes on it. They are missing items, as shown by the outline of said items near them. You need to find the items on the screen and drag them into place to continue. This was pretty cool. I always enjoy when developers mix things up.

Most of the game, as usual, is classic point and click stuff. You move from place to place, finding items to add to your inventory and using them to progress. It can be as simple as finding a key to a door, or using a umbrella handle to fish out an out of reach item. There are plenty of times where you need to find multiple objects to open a single door as well, so don’t be surprised if you get some inventory clutter. There’s a map system in place to help you teleport to where you need to be, but it takes time to recharge. You can also use the hint system to find where to go. Both of these are helpful, because the game often has you flying between seven or eight screens to get to where you need to be. The amount of backtracking is nuts, even for a genre where that kind of thing is commonplace.

This game has plenty of mini-games for you to crack. On top of that, they tend to be more involved puzzles that will test your puzzle solving mettle. I skipped more than a couple of them just to save time. Also, they were the kind I really suck at. As usual, you can skip them if you want, and there’s no penalty for doing so. They’re strictly there for those looking for a bit of an extra challenge. Pretty much every puzzle type shows up at some point, and the controls work solid for all but one of them. You can view instructions for each puzzle as well, which keeps you from getting lost. If I recall correctly, there’s actually more mini-games than there are hidden object sequences, which has to be a first.</blockquote>

Reference accessed <a href="http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/08/09/review-nearwood-collectors-edition-pc/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> 24rd Jan 2016

You can also see another excellent review from All About Casual Games <a href="http://www.allaboutcasualgame.com/2013/08/nearwood-review.html" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>

Video:

...........Video footage may contain SPOILERS.......

You’ll find videos of Nearwood (some are from the CE version) game play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34717l9Imh8" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBFCRtdaxNg" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNRfKkSqREw" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34717l9Imh8&list=PLgYZP8HR5eDI2NING64AFfvUA5QWBh2_O" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVfXAG8Wlzw" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.

Music:

If you wish to change the in game music  you can find the music files  via the following path:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Nearwood\data\Audio\Cues\Ost\x.ost

I recommend backing up the originals first  just in case you want to change them back.  I personally think the music goes really well with the  game and adds atmosphere.  You will need to   change the names of whatever music you intent  using  to the  same names of the original music. There are 13 tracks with titles like Dawn of ages, Into the Dream, Time Keepers, Sleepy Lands, Season's Change, all very appropriate to this game.  I highly recommend you leave the music as it  is.  :)

System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8
    CPU: 2.0 GHz
    RAM: 512 MB
    DirectX: 9.0
    Hard Drive: 1106 MB

Conclusion:

This is an excellent Hidden Object game that should cater for all levels of  ability.   With gorgeous graphics,  good and absorbing game play for thosee who want it and a decent sound track this is definitely a game to get and no doubt wont get too many negatives. Pity some community members will automatically  thumb this one down just becasue its a Hidden Object game.   8 out of 10 from me (I'm not a lover of Hidden Object Games, but have already purchased this one via Steam.

Scoring

Game play:  9
Graphics:  9
Audio:  8
Replayability:  7
Originality:  7
Fun Factor:  8

48 out of 60 = 8 out of 10

Problems:

If you have any problems installing or getting Nearwood working, please go <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647#post-101133" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> for help. I've posted most 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 do find any other fixes please post them in the FAQ's thread an I'll incorporate them into the thread when I have time (I always attribute fixes posted by the community to the member who posted them. Thank you.

<blockquote>If you think the game is infected - IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ</blockquote>

<blockquote>For those of you who are getting hits by your anti malware suites; it's because they are picking up the Themida based protection, which was put in place to protect the game from unscrupulous community members that were hacking the giveaway wrapper which then gave them unlimited access to a registered copy of the game, which was being put on peer to peer sites. Some community members were even uploading video tutorials on You tube telling you how to do it yourself.

Themida based applications are sometimes seen as a threat by  anti-malware. I can assure you this game and  hundreds before, that have given  community members cause for concern have been totally safe.  The game giveaway team have  managed to secure well over a thousand games for us since they first started giving away games back in late 2006; firstly via the main site  (Oct 2006), then via  the game giveaway site  (early December 2006).  There has never 'ever' been an infected   game given away.

If you are able to configure your anti-malware suite to allow the   'seemingly offensive' file   through security, the game should then install normally. if you can't, or don't know how to, then  the other way would be to temporarily  turn off your protection. You do so at your own risk, but  please do take into account what I've already said above; in a nut shell, every  malware  occurrence reported here since the  game giveaway went live in Dec 2006 have been false positives due to overly sensitive  anti-malware  suites.

It would be against the giveaway   teams best interest to allow such an occurrence as it would destroy their good standing with the big search engines and I'm sure many who have frequented this site for   a long time would leave.  The giveaway team  use several anti-malware suites to test every game given away here.

Another thing to consider when you think the game is infected, if it really was, there would be hundreds of community members posting about the infection; we rarely more than a few posts for any particular game; though, since the gcd file that contains the Themida code was introduced in 2012 I have seen many more community members reporting infections due to the Themida based code found in the giveaways wrapper protection. However, out of the thousands of downloads each week, those numbers are insignificant and supports the fact that the results they are getting are actually false positives. They have always been proven to be so.</blockquote>

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 <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/257721" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> for that purpose. If you've installed today's game but it doesn’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at a later date. Unfortunately if your problem is actually downloading it, once the giveaway deadline is reached you will no longer be able to download the game unless you've already started downloading it before the cut-off. 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 the grace period lasts for up to 1 hour. Apart from the above instances; i.e. already installed, but having problems running the game, (with the possibility of receiving help from the community via the giveawayoftheday game discussion forum); or still downloading after the cut off period, but within the 1 hour grace period, or registering within an hour of the cut-off period. Once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done to get the game (unless its available from one of the free game sites) until the game is given away again (though that isn't always guaranteed).

It's worth checking the giveaway game discussion forums the day before the giveaways go live to see if we are getting a large sized file (I usually post a comment about approximately how large a file is if it's likely to cause problems for those with slow connections; however, if I'm particularly busy I may neglect to do this). It is especially important for those who have slow connections and even more so if the game is popular. We can have up to forty thousand (40 000) community members downloading over the 24 hour period (if the game is popular), with the bulk of community members downloading in the first 12 hours of the giveaway going live, there is always a massive strain on the giveaway servers. The bigger the file size, the more community members will be downloading at any one time. Because the bandwidth is shared equally among all community members, downloads can become excruciatingly slow, so if you do have a slow connection, its important to start your download as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Because these games are free, the giveaway owners cannot invest in more bandwidth without compromising the whole project, so we have to be satisfied with what we have at present.

A download manager can help speed the download up and also protect the download in case of an interruption. There's nothing as frustrating for those with really slow connections to have the connection break after an hour or so, then have to start from the beginning again. I would ask community members if you do have decent bandwidth please avoid using a manager as it does add to the number of downloads occurring at any one time, for example some download managers will download your requested file in up to 32 packets simultaneously, that effectively will take 32 download spots, thus slowing down everyone's download speeds. For those with slow downloads (due to having a slow connection e.g. a 2MB Broadband connection or less) I would advise using a download manager if the file is larger than around 200MB. My broadband connection is 100MBs, so I don't need to use a download manager, (I do have one called Internet Download Manager, but don't use it when downloading files from the giveaway site). For me a 1GB file usually downloads in about 1.5 minutes or less. My connection is quite a long way from the provider so it is slowed a little, but is still quite good at a download speed of around 12 to 14 MB's per second.

I hope the above goes some way in explaining why  we sometimes have really slow downloads.

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 1400 games to choose from and TooMky Games is highly recommended as well, though sometimes Gametop will have the game when the others don't. Today's game is available 24/7 from from <a href="http://www.myplaycity.com/nearwood/" rel="nofollow">MyPlayCity</a>.

If you do download any games from these free game sites please '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 these free game sites tend to change the format frequently). I've not downloaded any from these sites in ages so can't confirm whether they have changed....... I've posted links to all of the common free game sites below in the 'games, games and yet more games' section. If you do download a game from any of these sites you do so at your own risk. We cannot be held responsible for problems arising from an installation recommended here. :)

The gamegiveaway site is   the safest  site I know of where you can get free software and games.  (BitsduJour is also great for free applications). The  only disadvantages   with downloading from here is you have to download and install within the  day of the giveaway  and  if and when you  upgrade  or buy a new computer  legally you aren't allowed to transfer  games given away previously, unless they are being given away again after you upgrade, or if you've purchased a license.  :)

You just have to look at the sites track record  since the game giveaway site was created  back in December 2006.  No  games given away here since the inception of the gamegiveaway site  have been infected with malware, there are no toolbars installed, nor  home pages hijacked or browsers  changed. There is  one slight annoyance, but that only occurs if  a community member isn't paying attention; i.e. when the final window pops up after installing a giveaway, called 'the Software Informer'  installation window.  Some community members have complained that they were given no choice in  its installation.  That is not true;  when the final window pops up, there are two buttons, one asking if you want Software Informer installed and the button to  close the  giveaway window  down.  Some community members have  clicked on the wrong button, probably because they weren't paying attention.  Thankfully Software Informer is a genuine application, that can easily be  uninstalled by the usual means. It's actually  a useful piece of software, especially if you have a lot of applications running on your computer.  Basically  the program  will list   the programs that need updating, or programs that  have available updates.  They wont be automatically installed (thus  cancelling many giveaway registrations); you have to click on individual buttons to update each program/application.  :D

Games, Games, and yet more Games:

There are 590 games on sale this week, with a new batch of games to come on Monday. You can find all of the games on sale <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. I won't bother listing any of the games, but it should be worth visiting as there are games for all tastes. Of course you do need to install the Steam client, but IMO it is well worth it. There are lots of free games (not just free to play online games) available plus there are always games on sale. You'll often find other game distributors will sell games with a Steam key and most of the bundled games on sale usually come with a Steam key as well.

You'll  find some excellent  deals over on the following Game sites.

<a href="http://www.greenmangaming.com/hot-deals/" rel="nofollow">GreenManGaming</a> They usually have coupons to the value of 23% and sometimes more off pre ordered games. I've pre ordered lots of AAA games from GMG and saved up to 25% off the pre order prices you find on Steam.

<a href="http://www.gamersgate.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">Gamersgate Summer Sale</a>
<a href="http://www.gog.com/" rel="nofollow">GOG</a> (DRM free games)
<a href="http://www.gamestop.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">Gamestop</a>
<a href="http://digital.gamefly.co.uk/#!/pc" rel="nofollow">GameFly</a> (soon to be sold off)

I've removed the Desura link because the owners are bankrupt and  there has been no activity on the site in many months.  The servers are still live (at least until  Bad JoJo's subscription to the servers has ended, Bad JoJo are the owners of Desura and Indie Royale, or were  until  filing for bankruptcy).  If you own any games via Desura I advise  downloading all of the drm free  games  you have on that platform  and on the Indie Royale site before the sites are taken down.

Free Game Sites:

<a href="http://toomkygames.com/" rel="nofollow">Toomky Games</a>
<a href="http://www.myplaycity.com/" rel="nofollow">MyPlayCity</a> (over a 1000 games to choose from)
<a href="http://www.gametop.com/" rel="nofollow">Gametop</a>
<a href="http://freegamepick.net/en/" rel="nofollow">FreeGamePick</a> (I've been told by Diane that FreeGamePick games tend to revert to demo's, can't qualify this tohugh as i don't download from FreeGamePick anymore.

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 <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/forum/17" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> 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 <a href="https://indiegamestand.com/" rel="nofollow">IndieGameStand</a>. you'll find the indie bundles thread <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/100253#post-202848" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. The thread is outdated, but all of the links will still take you to the latest bundles.

The latest IndieGameStand game is Hadean Lands (interactive fiction — a classic text adventure)
<blockquote>Marooned in an alien, airless wasteland — your starship fractured — your crewmates missing. Can an apprentice alchemist learn how to survive?

Hadean Lands is interactive fiction — a classic text adventure. No graphics! No menus! No point-and-click! You type your commands, and read what happens next.

Repairing an alchemical starship single-handed? Not easy; perhaps impossible. You’ll have to discover the rituals you need, and then search for ingredients, and then improvise and substitute. You’ll have to calcine, distill, dissolve, and precipitate. And somehow, somewhere, you’ll have to figure out what happened and why. </blockquote>
You can get the game for $1; pay over the average to get a map of the game, a prototype game and sourse code for Hadean Lands.. (The price at the time of writing was $1.81). The game includes a drm free download.
The deal ends Thursday Jan 28th 2016 5am (GMT)

The latest DIG game is  Space Thinger

<blockquote>Space Thinger is a thrilling arcade space shooter! Fight your way through multiple combat zones completing missions, mining asteroids for crystals and collecting the debris of your fallen foes to upgrade your ship and engage in ever more epic space battles. </blockquote>

Pay £0.99 for the game or you can get two keys if you pay more than the average of $0.99 (at the time of writing ). One Steam key to share with a friend or family member perhaps? You'll find that deal <a href="http://www.dailyindiegame.com/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. They also have five bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 each <a href="http://www.dailyindiegame.com/bundle_2.html" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> (DIG Bundles 49, 50 & 51, reBundle 10 and DIG Greenlight Bundle 3 and 4 ). You get Steam keys for all of these games apart from the DIG Greelight Bundles. If any of those games are added to the Steam store you will get a Steam key, in the mean time, you can download DRM free copies.

The  single game deal ends   Midnight  Monday 25th  Jan 2016 and will be replaced  with  a new game.

Most of the    bundles available 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 are some excellent  bundles out at the moment. I highly recommend the first four sites as they  regularly  change their bundles, at least weekly.  Bundle Stars is the most prolific, usually with at least 10 bundles, but  sometimes a lot more. some  bundles stay for months, others  for only a few days.  I  also recommend buying the Greenlight bundles as you  will get   quite a few  being Greenlit and save a  large amount of money on newly released games.  I reckon at least 75% of the   games from  those bundles have been Greenlit since I purchased   my first Greenlight bundle.  (I've bought at least  50 bundles  with  only Greenlight games and  they have never cost more than $3 to $4 per bundle, with savings up to 90%.  The flying bundle is  the only one that will inform you   when a game has been Greenlit and will send you  your Steam keys, the rest you have to check your accounts page to see if they have added   Steam keys. sometimes it  may take several weeks after the game has been released before you get your keys, but generally its either the same day or a few days at the most.

<a href="https://www.bundlestars.com/en/games?page=1&types=bundle" rel="nofollow">Bundle Stars</a> (26 bundles)
<a href="https://groupees.com/" rel="nofollow">Groupees</a> (3 bundles)
<a href="https://www.indiegala.com/" rel="nofollow">Indie Gala</a> (5 bundles)
<a href="https://www.humblebundle.com/" rel="nofollow">Humble bundle</a> (2 Bundles)
<a href="http://www.indieroyale.com/" rel="nofollow">Indie Royale</a> (this bundle is no longer live)
<a href="http://www.bundlebandits.com/" rel="nofollow">Bundle Bandits</a> (0 bundles)
<a href="https://www.blinkbundle.com/" rel="nofollow">Blink Bundle</a> (0 bundles)
<a href="http://www.playinjector.com/" rel="nofollow">Play Injector</a> (0 bundle)
<a href="http://getloadedgo.com/" rel="nofollow">Get Loaded</a> (0 bundles)
<a href="http://gamesrage.org/" rel="nofollow">Games Rage</a> (0 bundles)
<a href="http://www.flyingbundle.com/" rel="nofollow">Flying bundle</a> (1 bundles)

FREE GAME:

The  free game from Origin is  Jade Empire: Special Edition (Highly Recommended).  This game may change soon as it's been available for almost two months now.

<blockquote>Step into the role of an aspiring martial-arts master and follow the path of the open palm or the closed fist. In this multi-award-winning action-RPG, your choices and actions will determine the fate of the entire Jade Empire. Will you prevent the destruction of this beautiful land, or will you crush it beneath your heel? Are you a warrior who uses his strength and fighting mastery to bring peace, or will you instead use your power to bring pain and ruin? 
The choice is yours.

Game Features:

The Original Award Winning Jade Empire 
An incredible, engaging story that makes you the noble hero or the treacherous villain! 
A wealth of fascinating characters to interact with. 
Beautiful, mysterious lands to explore, discover, and save...or conquer. 
A rich blend of role-playing and exciting real-time combat. 
New monsters and enemies. 
New fighting styles. 
Customizable, intuitive controls including support for game-pads and keyboard/mouse. 
Increased graphics resolutions and new visual effects. 
Improved combat AI and difficulty levels. 
New world map interface.</blockquote>

Check it out <a href="https://www.origin.com/en-gb/store/free-games/on-the-house" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.

You do need  a free Origin account and  install the Origin client to get these free games.   Once you've installed the Origin client and signed into your account  select 'On the house'  from the 'Free Games' drop down menu.  Then select download now.  The game will then be registered to your Origin account permanently.

A Request for help:

<blockquote>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.

Save | Cancel

Reply | Comment by Whiterabbit-uk – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#72

Found the issue was with my firewall (firewall built into Vipre AntiVirus). Disabling the firewall allowed things to install, must be due to additional downloads or something being checked over the internet before installation.

Reply | Comment by Me – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#71

Very pretty graphics, in fact the graphics are the strongest point of the game. Game play is mediocre. It seemed the game didn't know what it wanted to be. Not really a HOG or an adventure game. Collecting random inventory items with a mini games thrown in and once in a while a HOG scenes would come up. Would benefit greatly from map that would allow you to quickly move from scenes. The "transport" function wasn't adequate because it needed to recharge. Lost interest trekking back and forth and didn't finish game. Neither the game play nor storyline were compelling enough to make me want to finish.

....................................Moderator Comment..............................

Thank you for your feedback Lauren :)

Reply | Comment by Lauren – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#70

HI Edward,

There was a map feature on the right side bottom where you could easily move (after certain time of recharging) between the relevant locations.

Interesting that I also encountered a blue screen after installing the game on Win7 64-bit (but am not sure what the reason was).

Anyway, thanks to the developers, will play this marvelous game a second time and strongly await the next episode. :-)

....................................Moderator Comment..............................

:)

Reply | Comment by marie – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#69

Excellent game, i downloaded and installed it with no problems in Win7. Everything is perfect. Thanks so much!!!

...........................Moderator Comment...............................

:)

Reply | Comment by Rania – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#68

Of course it's too late, but I played for an hour D/Ling it from BFG. Played for the hour it gave me, but by that time, this game from here was already archived.

...........................Moderator Comment...............................

It may be given away again, but probably not till early next year?

Reply | Comment by Subhadhra – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#67

Aside from being extremely confusing, this game was fairly well written. I spent a lot of time going back and forth from one location to another, and in the last few hours of playing I relied heavily on the hint feature to tell me what to do. So after in-excess of 12 hours I finally finished the game (yes, I played straight through!). When I quit the game I got the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death), which I have not encountered for many years, and never on this computer. (My system exceeds the system requirements: W10, 3.2 GHz, 8 G RAM, 690+ GB free on 1.4 TB HD, latest DirectX.) Consequently, this has left me with a very negative opinion of MagicIndie and Playrix. I have removed this game from my HD, along with another similar game from the same publisher that I had not yet finished.

...........................Moderator Comment...............................

Thank you for your feedback Edward, appreciated. I'd changed the distributors name to the correct one.... ;) :)

Reply | Comment by Edward – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#66

What a wonderful game - worth for the long downloading time!

The intro film itself would have been enough for a screensaver - feeling like a little child when dreaming it can fly.

Landscapes are so lovely and detailled, characters and all those little animals effects (esp the butterflies) just gorgeous.

Glad that I am only half way through so far.

Look in the mirror once you have finished a session - sure that you have a smile on your face :-)

Reply | Comment by marie – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#65

Lovey game
thanks very much for that :)

Reply | Comment by Emily – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#64

Hi again WR, sorry but yesterday I tryed with izarc and 7zip and both of them fails to solve my problem..... I must disconnect so I lost this fabulous game.... for the next game I'll try this extractnow too (thanks Fran) even in the case I don't like the new game only to see if I can solve this issue definitely because this is not the first time I lost good games :-(

On the new game's comment I'll let you know my progress, for now can I ask you how to make a gamegiveawayoftheday? I'm in contact with a little game house that has a Kickstarter project already fundend weeks ago (yes I'm a backer ;-)) and seems a good point and click game for your site ;-)

Thank you, bye.

Gabriel

Reply | Comment by Gabriele – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#63

Wow! Nice graphics! Looks like fun. Thanks gaotd and Playrix. Almost missed this (close to the deadline) but used Free Download Manager which made the download much faster.

........................................Moderator Comment....................................

:)

Reply | Comment by la – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#62

My SO downloaded the game and installed it with no problems (Windows 10 Pro x64). She played the entire game through in one session (she typically does that, takes hours). When she quit the game after having finished it, it blue-screened Windows. The game it self ran fine and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Figured I'd provide some feedback here to let the developers know about the blue-screen.

............................Moderator Comment..........................

Thank you for your feedback Lee

Reply | Comment by Lee – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#61

SET UP FILES CORRUPT. I SEEM TO BE THE ONLY ONE THIS HAS HAPPEND TO FROM THE COMMENTS. WONDER WHY

..............................Moderator comment...........................

Hi Sonyavan, read the problems section of my review (see comment number 1). I've posted several fixes in the FAQ's thread over in the game discussion forums. I've linked to it in the problems section. :)

Reply | Comment by SONYAVAN – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#60

Hi,

Downloaded fairly quick with 8.1 and opened easily. The opening is awesome! Enjoy the music also. Graphics are great, better than most!!
I played through for awhile. That part is more typical of most of these games, but graphics are better, which is always good with Playrix!!
I look forward to playing through more.
Thanks for another great game!
Lee

..............................Moderator comment...........................

:)

Reply | Comment by Lee C. – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#59

Brand new Win10 compatible mouse. I brought this mouse about two months ago as I was fed up with Facebook mouse problems so got a new one. Drivers are up-to-date. Plenty of system and graphics RAM, just updated that before Xmas. Resolution is fine. Funny how it plays then at certain parts of the game it jitters. Doesn't happen with other high MB games. Just this one.

..............................Moderator comment...........................

Very strange? Is it a wireless or cable mouse? Check to see if the sensor needs cleaning. also check your mouse mat for bumps etc. Also, if it's a wireless mouse you may need to recharge the batteries. :)

Reply | Comment by Suzanne – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#58

I just recently started on Sims 4 and got the newest Expansion pack Get Together yesterday afternoon. I've actually had Sims 4 since it came out last year but rarely played it because I'd never gotten through all Sims 3 had to offer. Over time, I'd gotten every expansion pack and stuff pack and store items Sims 3 had.

When 4 came out, I bought it and tried it, but not for long as it was the first iteration of it. It was nice to see and play with what that offered, but it was just the base game so I set it aside for a later time since I still had so many "toys" for my Sims to play with in 3 that I hadn't fully explored.

I did the same thing when 3 came out as I'd actually been loving the series since 2 arrived. I did end up getting all but the Apartment Living expansion pack for that series, but not anything from the online store.

............................Moderator comment...............................

I've still got several Sim 3 packs to get. Held off on sim 4 until a decent discount is available; partly due to me buying too many other games. I love my Train and flight sims, especially Train simulator 2016.

Reply | Comment by Susan – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#57

great game good story line graphic very good. I felt that the music that was used in the game was very good normally I turn the music off but I found it very relaxing.

..................................Moderator Comment...........................

I think I downgraded the music unfairly, should have given it at least one more point. :D

Reply | Comment by ros – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#56

Win 10 64bit Home. Downloaded and install no problems. Playing the game I got mouse jittering, if that is what you call it. Mouse was hard to steer in some sections. So back out and did the Compatible issue and found high DPI worked but then it played up again. Not sure if there is another setting but will try again later. Otherwise a great game, graphics WOW. A bit too long in the tooth with the story line. I found I skipped a lot of that.

..................................Moderator Comment...........................

Do you have an expensive mouse? for example I use Lachesis and Mamba razer mice that usually come with software (both cost me upwards of £80 each when they were first released). You may need to update the drivers for your mouse, It may also be a resolution issue, changing the resolution may cure the problem. Finally, how much system and graphics RAM do you have; it may be you are maxed out. :D

Reply | Comment by Suzanne – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#55

Cheers and thanks to John: I also couldn't install on a WinXP SP3 system, and 'Safe Mode with Network' did the trick!

Since some others had the same problem this time, and with another 'large' game in January, WR might also add this bit of advice to his ever-growing list of troubleshooting options...

..................................Moderator Comment...........................

Yes I will be doing. That's two different fixes from today's comments. Nice one.

Reply | Comment by Alexyu – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#54

Of COURSE!!!! Very big thanks to our own dear white rabbit!!!! I always look forward to seeing the game offers each weekend AND WR's brilliant reviews!!! thanks again! :)

..................................Moderator Comment...........................

Thank you for your kind words Merri, though the main reviews are not always mine. I use reviews posted on Gamezebo quite often as well as from other sites. I've not had as much time to play and write reviews as I used to.

Reply | Comment by merri – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#53

As so many have said, many thanks to Playrix for this beauty: geat graphics and (so far) good gameplay with nice puzzles and terrific video. Downloaded first time and installed AOK on Win7 after temporarily disabling AVG.

Am I alone in thinking the intro fly-through is what the Excel 97 developers had in mind when they created their famous built-in "flight simulator" Easter Egg? Okayyyy …

If Nearwood was the last-ever HOG from its creator company, MagicIndie Softworks, well they certainly went out on a wonderful high!

Thanks as always to GGOTD team and all concerned. VERY happy bunny!

...............................Moderator Comment.............................

Nice one Cad. :)

Apparently Win 8 also has a flight sim hidden within it's coding, as does the latest version of Google Earth. The second link below tells you how to access the Win 8 simulator; you will need to write some code to access it (the details are included with the article), so strictly it's not an Easter egg in the usual sense. The first link is the famous Excel 97 flight sim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gYb5GUs0dM

https://gyorgybalassy.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/hidden-flight-simulator-in-windows-8/

Reply | Comment by Cad Delworth CEng MBCS – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#52

Never mind. Operator error. ;)

..................................Moderator Comment...........................

Cool, glad you sorted the problem. :D

Reply | Comment by dron – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#51

I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that! Downloaded this game. LOVE LOVE love the intro!! I'll just let it play on my laptop. How's that?

..................................Moderator Comment...........................

Nice one Swampy :D

Reply | Comment by Swamp Thing – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#50

What a beautiful Game!!!!! It's nice to see one that's not so dark, sinister and creepy. I used the installer that comes with Windows 7 and had no problem extracting the files. I use AVG and have to turn it off to get the activation key to work but the time that takes is very short and so far, I have had no virus issues. I only have the GGOTD window open and nothing else until I get AVG turned back on. Once past the activation key I have had no problems installing the game. Beautiful beautiful graphics! Was very sorry to read that MagicIndie would not be making any more of these. If the game continues on as it has started I will actually consider buying the game and I never never buy games (well, okay over ten years I have bought a couple. LOL)

................................Moderator Comment.................................

I wish I could take a leaf out of your book Zakuska, I've literally purchased well over 10 thousand games over the last ten years. Got almost 7K on my Steam account alone, that's roughly 3 games every day. Suffice it to say I rarely finish a game, especially when I end up spending over 1700 hours playing just one of those games (ArmA II). I think I'm addicted to collecting games, lol.

Reply | Comment by Zakuska – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#49

This is a new one. I've installed many games from here with no problem, but I am getting the "failed to launch" message during authentication too. Windows 7, most all updates (minus win10 nags), 16gb ram, .5 gig free HD space, no malware software running. It unzipped to my temp folder fine, I get the error a few seconds after running setup. Nothing of note in the log files to see. System checks virus free. Rebooted, no change. I'm stumped. Only thing of note different than most systems is I am using a 43" 4K TV running in 2160p resolution as a monitor. I don't see that making a difference? (newest nvidia drivers installed) Ideas welcome...

..............................Moderator comment...........................

Hi Doug, I also doubt its your monitor. Try Johns fix, i.e. he was able to install the game by running SETUP.EXE in safe mode with networking enabled. Another community member confirmed that it worked, though it was related to an XP problem, it may still work for win 7.

Please let us know if it also works for you. Thank you.

Reply | Comment by Doug – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#48

OK just a slow connection. FAB game. Thanks GGOTD and Playrix.

..............................Moderator comment...........................

:)

Reply | Comment by Sally Blewett – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#47

Would love to leave a comment but get a message saying I've already done so.

..............................Moderator comment...........................

Sorted :)

Reply | Comment by Sally Blewett – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#46

Lovely game. Thank you for bringing it to us. Beautiful graphics and great puzzles. I will enjoy playing this again.

..............................Moderator comment...........................

:)

Reply | Comment by Sally Blewett – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#45

Oh this is a fun one! I downloaded it to my Win 10 in about 3 minutes. It's the longest download I do believe I've ever had from this site in quite some time, but my, oh my, is it worth it!

I came home from church today fully expecting to jump into my new Sims game that I'd started last night. But first I wanted to check your site to see what today's offering is. Once I get Simming, real life can tend to take a backseat so to speak now that my boys are grown and have flown the coop as of a few months ago. I do miss them, but retirement is such a nice thing to enjoy without having to be so concerned with other people's schedules!

Back to this game, as I said I figured I'd play for just a bit to get a feel for it. Ha, right, I'm already half way through it. Now dinnertime will be soon and need to start preparing for hubby's and my meal. Maybe I'll get some Simming time afterwards. Maybe, just maybe.

Thank you Stephen, GGAOTD team and Playrix for ruining my Sunday plans. Just kidding, I've really enjoyed this one!

..............................Moderator comment...........................

Thank you for your feedback Susan, I love sim games as well, got too many to count. Which sim game have you just got?

Reply | Comment by Susan – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#44

So, downloading is going to take a 1 hr 15 min. onto my external drive. Think I'll go and play on Facebook until it's done lol.

..............................Moderator comment...........................

:)

Reply | Comment by Erika – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#43

WOW WEE What awesome graphics. Am on very high speed so got it ok. People looked so real. I give it a 9+ Thanks White Rabbit. I am 3 games behind now so lots to play for the next couple of weeks. I just looked a the stunning graphics and played about 1 minute of it. When I get caught up I know this game will be tops. Did not get to download it till 4pm. It works just great. on win 10.

..............................Moderator comment...........................

Thank you for your feedback Myrn

Reply | Comment by Myrn – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#42

Hi,

I left a note in a wrong place. I D/L'd the game in Firefox (which I use) and after an hour, it finally was ready to install in WinXP. But, it didn't take long for the "Failure to Launch" error message to show up. (I also turned off my AV off). So, I D/L'd it in IE8, with the same results. All in all, including D/Ls, I spent 5 hrs to try to play the game, seeing all the positive reviews. So, I thought I'd try D/L the game in Big Fish and play the 1 hr tryout. It took 8 minutes from D/L to play. I'm able to play it from BFG and it was so easy to D/L.
Why can't I get the same results with GGotD? I won't get it free from BFG.
Please advise. Thank you

..............................Moderator comment...........................

Please excuse the late moderation, fell asleep for five hours. Have you tried Johns fix? He was able to install the game by running SETUP.EXE in safe mode with networking enabled and another community member confirmed that it worked. Please let us know if it also works for you. Thank you.

Reply | Comment by Subhadhra – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#41

D/L'd and installed just fine. Played for about 5 minutes and began running into difficulty picking up objects. I get spinning gears when I hover in many placed. I know I'm to pick up fire (the hint even told me so) but no matter where I click on it I just get spinning gears. Win 10 64bit problemo?

Reply | Comment by dron – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#40

Neverwood downloaded in 10 minutes without a hitch to my Windows 7 Home Edition laptop. What a gorgeous, gorgeous game! A real feast for the eyes & ears. The music soars. I'm just amazed at the quality, the time, and blood, sweat & tears that went into making this a one of a kind masterpiece. I've only spent a short time playing, but this is one game that I will savor and keep for a long time. Thank you so much to Playrix and White Rabbit. You made this snowy weekend a lot of fun.

..........................Moderator Comment.........................

Thank you for your feedback Sue :)

Reply | Comment by Sue Ragan – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#39

Playrix always causes excitement. Another great giveaway day. Playrix is soooo good to all of us.....Thanks so much.

What incredible graphics. This has to be my favorite so far when it comes to graphics. I found myself just looking at the graphics instead of playing the game :-). The scenes are wonderful.

Stephen, I agree with you concerning the music. It really just fits. Thanks again for your review and for finding the walkthroughs and videos for me. They are my safety nets. I'll be replaying this one for sure. It definitely keeps my interest.

Beautiful through and through

..........................Moderator Comment.........................

Thank you for your feedback Paula :)

Reply | Comment by Paula Flinn – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#38

Hi WR, if I'm allowed! I see so many Folks struggling to extract zipped Files, both on main GOTD and here - that it isn't first time I try to point people to this mini-tool, still free, that it looks like I'm promoting it. No, I'm not. I simply want to share something that worked for me on every PC I had, as far as I can remember! I use it for extracting ONLY, nothing else, and although I realize it's less superior to known Archivers/Unpackers - it truly never fails!:) It's called 'ExtractNow' (extractnow.exe) I use version 4.6.2.0. It creates own Folder each time I extract zipped Files (on desktop in my case) and everything it's always neatly in it. Zipped Files can be either dragged into it's tiny console, or 'sent' to it by right-clicking (Win7)
It can be portable, one can find it here: http://www.extractnow.com/

..........................Moderator Comment.........................

Nice one Fran, thank you, I'll add that link to the FAQ's later. :) :)

Reply | Comment by fran – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#37

Took quite awhile to download due to the size. Using Advanced Uninstaller, I got a "Failed to Launch” error midway during the initial installation. I deleted that log file, started a new install and it went fine. FYI, I am using a Win10 Home x 64 laptop. Not sure what triggered the initial error but just sharing in case it helps someone else.

Upon launching the game, I hesitated to press play as I wanted to continue down that river so I rode it for awhile. Very nice graphics! Eventually, I did hit play and went through the first few exercises. The story telling, animation and graphics are all top notch. I look forward to getting deeper into the game later today.

Thanks to Playrix, the GOTD team and, as always, Whiterabbit-uk!

..........................Moderator Comment.........................

That river animation is a really nice touch, glad you like the game. :)

Reply | Comment by jboy – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#36

Excellent advice! Works fine. Beautiful graphics!
Thanks to John, thanks to moderator :)

..........................Moderator Comment.........................

Glad you got it working

regards Whiterabbit-uk

Reply | Comment by Tom – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#35

Count me as someone else who can't get this to install on Windows XP SP3 (i.e. it won't get past the activation step when you click on setup.exe), but it works fine on 8.1.

This has happened before with other large zip files, so I'm pretty sure it's a problem with the Giveaway wrapper and the size of the files inside. Given that's it works on some XP machines (according to at least 1 post above), it's probably related to available memory of which XP has less than 7/8/10. It's definitely NOT any antivirus software on my end.

In the past when this happened with non-Playrix giveaways, the files were installable on 8.1 and portable to XP, so that was my workaround, but I don't know of any workaround with Playrix files.

Does anyone know of a workaround on XP to get past the activation step?

...........................Moderator Comment.......................

You could try exporting the Playrix registry files to the desktop on your Win 8.1 computer then copying them over to your XP computer, then copy the installed game and copy it over to the XP computer. This should be done before the giveaway is over.

Reply | Comment by Jake – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#34

Download and installation without a problem.

How I love Fairylands - wonderful graphics, nice storyline, everything seems to work fine.

Glad we got this today as I finished yesterdays game immediately ;-)

Thanks for this gem.

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Have a pleasant day Anu :)

Reply | Comment by Anu – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#33

Hel Guys and thank you for this site ;-)

I have a great problem: when I try to install it in my pc (win 7 home premium) it says 'The setup files are corrupted. Please obtain a new copy of the program', I immediatly read the faq and found that the problem is my kaspersky antivirus so I disable it (yes I did it!!) and run as administrator the file 'Setup.exe', but the problem is still here!!

After I closed the window with this warning the giveaway window appear and it said that the game was successfully activated.... ?????????.......

I downloaded the program a second time and try to install again without antivirus (yes I did it again!!), but the problem is still here....

What should I do? Help please help...!

Gabriel

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Hi Gabriele, try using a different file archiver, for example 7 Zip or J Zip. I've linked to several different free ones in the FAQ thread. I've had this problem a few times where the windows file archiver/zip unpacker has given me a corrupted message, but the file was actually okay, so I tried a different archiver and it worked. :)

Reply | Comment by Gabriele – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#32

Tried 7-zip and tried the built in windows extraction tool, neither allowed installation. Getting "Failed to launch the program", Win7 Pro, installing from setup.exe in non-zip folder. Tried downloading using IE and Firefox, both with same issue, download completes, extracts, but can't install.

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Hi Me, it could be a conflict with your anti-malware suite. Sometimes the giveaway wrapper is seen as a threat because it contains Themida coding, which can also be used to hide malware. So, anti-malware suites may tag it as suspect and not allow it to extract and install. The solution is to temporarily turn off your security, however I must say you do so at your own risk. Should be 99.99999999999% safe :)

Reply | Comment by Me – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#31

Thank you for this beautiful game!

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

:)

Reply | Comment by Diana – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#30

Oooh, and White Rabbit. Don't forget to thank White Rabbit!

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Awww, that's nice of you Swampy :)

Reply | Comment by Swamp Thing – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#29

Thanks so much! Next to time management, HOGs are my favorites. :) One minor suggestion, FWIW - nothing earth-shattering, but it's always nice to see what type of game it is in the initial description. Maybe even a simple lead-in like "Type: HOG" or something similar right at the start. I don't care for match 3s or shmups, and I'm sure there are those who don't like HOGs or TMs; knowing right at the beginning what type of game it is can help people decide if it's worth downloading. :-) I know it's often mentioned somewhere in the synopsis, but sometimes, like today, it's not. Like I said, a truly trivial matter! :) Thanks again for a great game and all the effort you put into GGOTD!

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Hi Karen, I think I did mention that todays game was a HOG. i.e.

In Brief:

Purported to be the last Hidden Object game the developer MagicIndie softworks will be creating (the developer of the excellent Brink of Consciousness games). You'll find this a gorgeously illustrated Hidden Object game, with quality puzzles and excellent HOG scenes. HOG fans won't be disappointed. There's options for wide screen and standard monitors and three modes of play, casual, normal and expert, so all community members should find a niche within this game where they can enjoy the game play without it being too difficult. I love the fly by you see on the main menu, it reminded me of the 3D scene I sat through when we last visited Disney in Florida

:)

Reply | Comment by karen – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#28

ooh sorry, I meant to thank Playrix as well.... :)

Reply | Comment by merri – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#27

I have long been a fan of MagicIndie; have both the brink of consciousness games(highly, highly recommended) so was delighted to find this impressive game being offered here!
Installed with ease upon my windows 7 64 bit.
I am in awe; these developers excel...
thanks so very much, GGOTD AND MagicIndie!!!

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Thank you for your feedback Merri :)

Reply | Comment by merri – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#26

This is the 3rd pretty large game I've seen on GOTD. The 1st wouldn't work on my XP VM -- I suspected memory [RAM] limitations. When the 2nd wouldn't work I tried altering memory settings, & it did make a difference, though it was not a cure.

My *guess*, & it's just that -- a guess -- is that XP simply cannot allocate enough memory for the GOTD setup process... The game's setup files have to be read into & stored in memory, then expanded into more memory & then run from there. It's not a matter of needing more RAM physically [or virtually] available, but that XP just can't handle it, e.g. it'll work in a win7 VM with less RAM allocated than what's available to the XP VM.

On a side note, whilst anyone running XP is used to ignoring advice not to, it *may* be time to start listening, & planning an escape route. If your hardware won't run anything more current, perhaps look at Linux + Wine or a VM? The reason I say that is that Microsoft is now taking a firmer line regarding support for older versions of Windows [7 & 8] AND older hardware. They've ended support for Windows 8 & Internet Explorer up to & including ie 11.

Running XP you already have problems because as the world changes, as almost no one makes any provisions for XP -- in the future the same will be said about 8, & increasingly Windows 7. This forced obsolescence will happen faster whenever & wherever Microsoft can influence it. And if whatever no longer works as well in 7 or 8, you can probably bet it Won't Work with XP At All.

..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Thank you for your feedback Mike, sadly you are absolutely right. It's wrong of Microsoft, but, hey, what can we do. Hopefully some bright spark will come up with some sort of fix that will enable us to use these older operating systems. I've got several working computers, one of which I'm intending to reinstall Win XP and win 98 as I have quite a few disc based games that will no longer work on Vista onward. Some i have got to work by downloading NoCD fixes from places like GameCopy world, but others I've not been able to run, which is frustrating as I would dearly love to play some of those older games. :)

This is the 3rd pretty large game I've seen on GOTD. The 1st wouldn't work on my XP VM -- I suspected memory [RAM] limitations. When the 2nd wouldn't work I tried altering memory settings, &amp; it did make a difference, though it was not a cure.

My *guess*, &amp; it's just that -- a guess -- is that XP simply cannot allocate enough memory for the GOTD setup process... The game's setup files have to be read into &amp; stored in memory, then expanded into more memory &amp; then run from there. It's not a matter of needing more RAM physically [or virtually] available, but that XP just can't handle it, e.g. it'll work in a win7 VM with less RAM allocated than what's available to the XP VM.

On a side note, whilst anyone running XP is used to ignoring advice not to, it *may* be time to start listening, &amp; planning an escape route. If your hardware won't run anything more current, perhaps look at Linux + Wine or a VM? The reason I say that is that Microsoft is now taking a firmer line regarding support for older versions of Windows [7 &amp; 8] AND older hardware. They've ended support for Windows 8 &amp; Internet Explorer up to &amp; including ie 11.

Running XP you already have problems because as the world changes, as almost no one makes any provisions for XP -- in the future the same will be said about 8, &amp; increasingly Windows 7. This forced obsolescence will happen faster whenever &amp; wherever Microsoft can influence it. And if whatever no longer works as well in 7 or 8, you can probably bet it Won't Work with XP At All.

<blockquote>..................................Moderator Comment.................................

Thank you for your feedback Mike, sadly you are absolutely right. It's wrong of Microsoft, but, hey, what can we do. Hopefully some bright spark will come up with some sort of fix that will enable us to use these older operating systems. I've got several working computers, one of which I'm intending to reinstall Win XP and win 98 as I have quite a few disc based games that will no longer work on Vista onward. Some i have got to work by downloading NoCD fixes from places like GameCopy world, but others I've not been able to run, which is frustrating as I would dearly love to play some of those older games. :)</blockquote>

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Reply | Comment by mike – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#25

It appears to work well with Win 10 x64 (based on about 5 minutes of play

Reply | Comment by DocSid – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#24

Wonderful grafics - already the intro was worth waiting for! Just in the game - the objects seems to be fair - not to easy, not too difficult!
Thanks a LOT!