My graphics driver is the latest non-beta one; everything else works fine. I noted the note above mine and would have been willing to give that a shot (squall.dll) but the giveaway is over. No biggie to miss one!

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


Hi Hecate, if you still have the game installed you should still be able to add the dll file and get it to work. It will still have been activated when you installed it. :)

Downloaded and installed with no problems on a Win7/64 laptop. So far I've played quite a bit of the game and found it quite entertaining though not difficult. I do agree that the lack of differentiation in color in some of the articles on some levels does cause some eye strain. All in all I consider this a good variation on the Match3 game genre and a keeper for me.

Thanks to Stars Ashes and GGOTD for today's gams.

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

Thank you for your feedback BikerBro

Pretty decent match 3 game.....runs well on my Dell laptop/Win 8.1. I would have liked a little more color to the scenes, which would make it easier for these older eyes with glasses to see. Thanks to the developer and GGOTD for this nice game!

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Thank you for your feedback Laura :)

I wasn't able to download the file so I went to Playcity and got it. Installed fine and while it's not very exciting on the building side, it is a great match 3 game. I like match 3 style so this is nice, but like others said, the picks and shovels should be more different as it's hard to tell them apart. Maybe black for one and gray for the other? I hope I don't have a problem with only one piece left and no matches as one poster said, or else have the ability to replay those boards.

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Hi Therese, did you check your event log after you'd tried to download? sometimes you may get messages that will tell you if there is a problem. :)

Not a splashy or high tech game, but surprisingly... not bad. Kind of like a lower-tech version of Fishdom or Cradle of Rome, especially the latter with the "settlement building" portion. Match-3s are a dime-a-dozen, but this has some nifty bits, like the resources you need being hidden behind tiles in some rounds and you don't know which tiles they are under, or problem-tiles that might "go off" at any minute (like bee-hives) that block your vision of that area for a few seconds. Occasionally, you have a choice of quests, so you aren't stuck seeing the same layouts over and over. I'm only a few levels in to it, but it's a surprisingly nice time-killer. I'm still playing Cradle of Rome 2 from the last time it was given away, so obviously, there's still an appeal in the market. And it's nice to be reminded that a game doesn't have to be full of explosions and hi-res to be a pleasant way to spend time.

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

Thank you for your feedback StealthBunny :)

Hi,

I downloaded this the last time it was offered and occasionally play.
I have to say it is boring! You really don't see any accomplishments as
with other games. If they showed a building being completed or similar,
might be more interesting. The actual puzzle game does have a bit of a different
take, but after many levels of the same thing, I am just done, lol!
thanks for other games,
Lee

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

Thank you for your feedback Lee :)

Hi Stephen,

Contrary to my usual habit of waiting til late in the day, I downloaded this morning and had opportunity to play a bit, so actually have some comments. I think this is a pleasant little match-3 with some variations which tie in with the story-line (collecting a quantity of an item needed to progress the story). It does not seem to be too complex and does not require much interaction (town is built without requiring additional tasks), so perhaps this game is targeted for the younger crowd, but I still find it enjoyable and I qualify as a "senior citizen"! I agree with comments about similarity of some of the tiles (shovels & picks) and muted coloring in some areas -- more contrast would be preferable. I also noted the absence of a timer, a plus for some community members, and it does not detract from my enjoyment of the game. Since I get pleasure from a variety of games and puzzles, I think the addition of some mini-games such as putting together parchment pieces and rune stones would offer some attraction. Overall, I give it a thumbs up and recommend it to others.

Thanks to Stars Ashes, GGOTD and you, Stephen, for this little gift and the great review which convinced me to give it a try.

Regards,
Cara in NC

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

Thank you for your feedback Cara :)

It's a decent game, not like it's all new and snazzy or eye-popping, the tiles arent 3D, which isnt a big deal to me, but it's playable, and not awful.
Also agree, in the mine scene, they could have done more to differentiate the colors/designs of the rocks. I can do it ok, but a bigger difference would have been nice.
Its pretty mindless, which can be good for games of this type. Not sure I like the whole pest thing, but oh well, it isn't that bad, keeps it from being too boring I suppose.
Just sort of a simpler, stripped down version of an m3 builder. Something you would call a great effort for developers just starting out, although i have no idea if this is early work of that developer or not. Worth getting for free, certainly, and not really bad at all.

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

Thank you for your feedback Connie.

yes that is my new e-mail address, according to the forum I am not listed under that address.

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

I'm in the middle of watching a movie (Hitman) at the moment. Its almost finished. Once it's over i'll create a new password for you, then email it to you. That should solve the problem signing into your account. That's assuming you've used the same name in the forums. :)

I too am having playing issues. Downloaded fine to Win8.1 64bit and it starts to play but as it hits the ...presents... it comes up saying an error has occurred and will close and will notify me when the is a solution. I even downloaded from MyPlayCity and Starsashes and same problem. Starsashes wanted me to download a BigFish game manager. Nope.

Never had a problem with any previous games you have had on offer.

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

Hi Tiffany, try running the game using compatibility mode. If that doesn't sort the problem, run one more time then immediately open up the event viewer and click on the events of the last minute. See if there are any error messages related to the game. If so post detals here and i'll see if i can figure out what the problem is. Also post the error message in the link to the forums that I've provided in my problems section of my review.

Thank you Give away of the Day I always love when you offer games wish you did it more often, and ppl offer good reviews of the games that helps alot in my decisions to download..

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

:) We have a lot of decent game sin the listings at the moment *13 games, some of which I know are popular, or likely to be).

sorry to use this section but have been trying to reset my password for the forum and think the e-mail has been sent to my old address which was changed last April , have no idea how to contact the administrator to get it changed thank you

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

is the email you used for this comments section valid? i.e. thes****s@fa**s**e.**.nx, if it is I'll send you a new password via your email. or if you give me a temporary password you'd like i could change it to that so that you copuld change it as soonas you can.

I don't check what needs moderating at this time of the evening as often, so it may take time for me to reply.

Agree w/ comments. Played ok last time Win 8. Did lose patience after a bit and deleted it but giving another try. Think issue was up around the shovels & picks stage where got rough. I'm more forgiving lately so one more go. Thanks guys.

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

:D

Despite lukewarm reviews, this sounded like a fun combo of match-3 with some extra spice, so downloaded and installed with no issue on Win 8.1. But when I went to run it, the screen looked like one of those old 3D comics without the glasses---red and green and multiple images. Uninstalled and reinstalled, same issue. Practically new computer with latest everything and never had a single problem with a game before. Uninstalled.

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

Very strange, have you got the latest graphics driver as well? If you've installed the latest beta driver, it could be that (possibly)..

Program loads start screens then crashes. Downloaded and installed several times and get same results. Program shows splash screens then crashes. Here is the crash report :

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: RuneStonesQuest.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 50a0dd91
Fault Module Name: Squall.dll
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 41c1cc53
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0000251a
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: e3c7
Additional Information 2: e3c7d9d1458a0d192e0d698ca6d23f0b
Additional Information 3: 2c44
Additional Information 4: 2c44f2994a6b7d9ae6e9a0800403a4d5

Running in compatibility mode does not make a difference.
Please help. I had this game before on my XP system and liked it.
Win7 Pro SP1 64Bit
AMD Ath 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.6 GHz
8 GB ram
Thanks

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

Try downloading the squall.dll from one of the free dll sites (be careful not to click on the wrong buttons on some of those sites), then add the dll to the system 32 folder in windows. If that doesn't fix the problem, add the dll to the games folder. (make sure you back up any copy you already have).

The game is easy to install, has beautiful graphics and music (imho) and is fun. What more can be said? Thanks to Whiterabbituk for the excellent review & info. Thanks Stars Ashes for making this available.

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

Thank you for your feedback Ken. :)

Installed and ran on windows 8 64bit machine with no issues.
It's a fun little game, with a nice background story. Building the town makes for a nice little break between boards. Lots of different objectives with bonuses and pitfalls that keep it interesting. Not sure if there's a time limit, because I never ran out of time.
I recommend it for all match 3 fans.

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

Thank you for your feedback Joe. :)

I still have this from GOTD a couple of years ago, runs fine in Vista 32. Graphics are somewhat dated and the palette is muted, no bonuses (bonusi?) or powerups; the town building is not interactive - earn a new building and it is added to a predetermined location. But this is a solid match 3 game with some interesting levels; it is not always a matter of matching all you can but of matching certain tiles to disclose something beneath them. A relaxing style and good replay value (else it would not have lasted two years on my system) ...though it can be quite irritating when you need to remove one last tile and the game adamantly refuses to place any matching tiles anywhere near it.

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

Thank you for your feedback jgf. :)

7-zip and alzip said this file was corrupt and would not extract the files.

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

Hi Allen, try another archiver. Around 3 thousand community members have so far downloaded the game with no one else reporting this problem. If it occurs again, check your event logs to see if there is something else causing the problem.

The game installed and ran on windows 8 64bit with no problems at all. I found the game to be very relaxing and enjoyable to play. The in game music was pleasant, and the sound effects were nice also. The only issue I had personally with the game so far, was in the mine, the shovels and picks looked too much alike, and the stones looked too much like the silver ones. I have bad eye sight, so that scene was a little on the difficult side for me. I think that is the one thing I would change about the game, would be to make those things look a little more different than each other. On the good side, the game ran better than most every other game I have on my computer, which tends to have mouse problems with most games, but in the game it ran wonderfully. I really liked the graphics of the village being built, being fond of waterfalls, which added a lot to the game for me. The boards where the spiders make webs and the ice freezes up some tiles, really kind of added to the fun of the game for me, and the foggy bee hive did add to the difficulty. All in all, a very excellent game.

Thank you for the wonderful game.

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

Thank you for your feedback Cheyenne. :)

Rune Stones Quest:

In Brief:

ARune Stones Quest is a standard Match 3 game with building elements. The game has reasonable graphics. Taking into account game play, graphics, music, re-playability and originality, I gave it an average score of 6.6 out of 10 - (game play scored 7). It's an okay Match 3, but there ae much better ones available for free via MPC (see below for link).


This was given away for the first time last year (June 22nd 2013). It received a positive 71% out of 263 votes. You can see the 34 comments made by the community HERE (I accidentaly deleted my comment),then it was given away again last February 2014, where it received a positive 66% out of 383 votes; you can see all 54 comments HERE

Rune Stones Quest downloads to a 68.4 MB zip file (exactly the same size as previously) and unpacks to a wrapped setup file, a security file (setup.gcd) and a read me doc with the terms and conditions and instructions

The game installs to:

C:\Games\RuneStonesQuest_game

by default and is 113MB in size once installed. There is no shortcut installed nor any uninstaller. To delete just delete the installed game folder.





The game works on all of my Win 7 and Win 8 computers.

Introduction:

A long time ago, five rune stones were created by craftsmen of The Mountain People. The Rune Stones allowed whomever possess the stones to command all natural elements, while offering protection from foes, aiding in mining, crafting and farming.Many tried to steal the riches of The Mountain People, much to the thieves’ dismay all nature stood against them and forced them out of the Dwarven kingdom. One day an evil sorcerer discovered the power the Dwarves possessed. By disguising himself as the King, the sorcerer located and destroyed The Rune Stones. Shortly thereafter, the fields of the Dwarves’ kingdom became barren as wells dried up and the drought began. And The Army of Darkness stood on the threshold. The Rune Stones must be restored to save the Kingdom, however the knowledge of their creation was lost long ago. The best Dwarven masters prepared supplies and ancient manuscripts and disembarked on a long journey. In the wilderness of the far off valley, the masters will strive to acquire the ancient knowledge lost and use it to restore The Rune Stones! Will you aid them in their vital quest?

Reference accessed HERE 24th Jan 2015



If you miss todays game, you can get it 24/7 from HERE MyPlayCity. Do bear in mind the toolbars etc that you can get if you don't uncheck the check boxes during installation.

You can see some user reviews and comments from Big Fish GamesHERE

The Game:



Today's game, Rune Stones Quest is a typical match three game, with the usual bonuses (explosive fire, hammer and lightning). When you line up more than three items in a row or column, you'll get bonuses. The longer the chain the better the bonus. Matching objects next to a pest will cause the pest to activate. It takes time for the pest to deactivate. Hidden objects can be found and released from under tiles. The aim of each level is to remove all dark tablets from the board. As you progress through the game there are other objects to find and match together such as parchments and rune stones.


You slowly build a settlement starting with the ancestral tree; to create the ancestral tree you have to match acorns. To receive rune s tones you need to have completed such buildings as the Library, Settlement Center and Alchemy Lab. Each building will require you to collect specific tile sets, which will be made clear throughout the game via your chiefs messages at the start of each level.

Video:

You can see a couple of videos of Runes Stones Quest HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE


Music:

If you don't like the in game music you should be able to exchange the music from the sound folder which is located:


C:\Games\RuneStonesQuest_game\Data\Sound\x.ogg

You'll need to rename and convert any of the music files you use (e.g. Wav/MP3's) to the .ogg format before you replace them. Not all files in the sound folder should be exchanged as some of for sound effects; generally it's the larger sized files that are music files. Some media players will play .ogg format sound/music files, so it may be a good idea to check the ones you intend changing to see if you can hear what they are. I also advise that you back up all files you intend replacing until you are sure the game works okay.

Minimum System Specifications:

Windows 2000/ XP/ Vista/ 7 plus it also works on win 8
Pentium 1.0 GHz or equivalent
256Mb System RAM
112 Mb Hard drive space (hald of this is images and backgrounds within the game)
Direct3D compatible 3D graphics card
64 MB gRAM

Conclusion:


A pretty standard match three with city building elements that adds to the game. Well worth downloading if youy like match three's, but it's nothing special. I enjoyed the short time I played the game and will be keeping a copy, at least for the immediate future.


Score:

Overall I'd give this game the following score:

Game play - 7
Graphics - 7
Music - 6
Replayability - 7
Originality - 6

Total = 33 out of 50 which equates to 6.6 out of 10

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Problems:


If you have any problems installing or getting to work today's game please go HERE for help. I've posted all of the common problems and solutions in a FAQ thread, which you can find in the sticky section of the forums by following the above link.


If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums, in the game discussion section because I cannot moderate 24hrs a day over the weekend. I've created a thread HERE for that purpose. If you've installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn't guaranteed). Sometimes you can still register the game after the giveaway has ended so long as you managed to start the download before the giveaway ends. I've tested this and sometimes the grace period lasts for up to 2 hours, but more often than not 1 hour is the norm.

It’s always worth checking out the free games sites because sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them. MyPlayCity (MPC) has the most with over 1000 games to choose from, and hundreds of Match Three games including todays giveaway. you'll find Rune Stones quest HERE.


If you do download any other games from MPC or the other free game sites 'do' watch out for toolbars etc. Make sure you un-check the check-boxes during installation, and, in the case of MyPlayCity, every time you boot the game up, (this may have changed now as MPC tend to change the format frequently. .. I've posted links to all of the common free game sites below in the games, games games section. :)




If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums in the game discussion section. If you’ve installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn’t guaranteed. It’s always worth checking out the free games sites as sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them as is

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




There are 210 games on sale over on Steam, ranging from 10% to 90% off. You can find a full list HERE.

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

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


Free Game Sites:

Jenkat Games
MyPlayCity (over a 1000 games to choose from)
Gametop
FreeGamePick



To be honest there are too many game deals around too list them all. Just visit the sites I recommend above and I'm sure you'll find something that suits you for a very decent price. If like me you prefer Steamworks games, many of the above sites also sell steamwork games.

If that's not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals such as the Indie Game bundles (there's over 20 of them - If you purchased all of them you'd be paying around $80 for around a thousand dollars worth of games); or check out the four day sales at IndieGameStand. 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 Pixel: ru². Pixel: ru² (are you squared) is a game that is a combination of a platformer, a shooter, and a puzzle game. The gameplay features color theory based puzzle and combat mechanics and gravity manipulation based puzzle and platforming mechanics. There are a lot of simple systems stacked on top of each other which makes it easy to learn, but difficult to master. If you pay over the average, which at the time of writing was $1.40 You get the sound track as well. You can pay as little as $1 for the game if you wish. If the game is Greenlit you'll get a Steam key, plus you get a Desura key and be able to download the game DRM free as well. This bundle ends around 5am (GMT) Mon 26th Jan.


The latest Daily Indie game is the beta version of 2020 Divided Nation, a FPS multiplayer game. You can get two keys if you pay more than the average of $1.15 (at the time of writing); one key to share with a friend or family member perhaps?. You'll find that deal HERE. They also have four bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 HERE each. The single game deal ends Midnight Saturday 24th Jan and will be replaced with a new game called In Space

Most of the bundles retail for around $5 give or take a few dollars (apart from the Daily Indie bundles that only cost $1.49 for six games), but you can pay as little as a dollar for some.
The free game from Origin has chaned from Sim City 2000 to Theme Hospital. i.e.

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A Request for helpl>:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

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