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Snark Busters: High Society Giveaway
$9.99
EXPIRED

Game Giveaway of the day — Snark Busters: High Society

Help Elizabeth justify that her fiancé is not a thief!
$9.99 EXPIRED
User rating: 24 30 comments

Snark Busters: High Society was available as a giveaway on November 4, 2018!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$5.00
free today
As you know, sheep are an important part of the kingdom's economy!

Exclusive offer from Giveaway of the Day and MyPlayCity! No third-party advertising and browser add-ons!

Investigate the dastardly deeds of a wealthy socialite and prove your fiance is not a thief in Snark Busters: High Society! Love, envy and revenge join forces to make the hunt for the Snark more exciting than ever in this all-new hidden object adventure! Solve riddles that reveal pieces of the larger puzzle, follow the trail of clues through mirrors into the backward world and chat with charming ghosts. Can you catch the Snark? You're closer than ever!

System Requirements:

Windows XP/ Vista/ 7/ 8/ 10; CPU: 1.4 GHz; RAM: 1024 MB; DirectX: 9.0; Hard Drive: 719 MB

Publisher:

MyPlayCity

Homepage:

https://www.bigfishgames.com/games/7155/snark-busters-high-society/

File Size:

625 MB

Price:

$9.99

GIVEAWAY download basket

Developed by Electronic Arts
Developed by PopCap Games
Developed by Overwolf
Developed by BeamNG

Comments on Snark Busters: High Society

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#1

Snark Busters: High Society
In Brief
A Hidden Object game.
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Installation:
Snark Busters: High Society downloads to a 625 MB zip file that unzips to three files, (a setup.gcd security wrapper, the set-up file and a read me). Those with multiple hard drives can save games on any drive they wish. The newly installed game is 708 MB in size. The game installs to the following path by default, but can be changed by the user if you prefer:
C:\Program Files (x86)\MyPlayCity.com\Snark Busters – High Society
Four shortcuts are installed to the desktop. three of which can be safely deleted (Play Online Games, MyPlayCity Games and shortcuts to a free online game which vary each week). Also, if you don't like icons installed to the quick launch task bar, make sure you uncheck the box when the additional tasks window appears (after the Select Start Menu Folder window)
Introduction:
Investigate the dastardly deeds of a wealthy socialite and prove your fiancé is not a thief in Snark Busters: High Society! Love, envy and revenge join forces to make the hunt for the Snark more exciting than ever in this all-new hidden object adventure! Solve riddles that reveal pieces of the larger puzzle, follow the trail of clues through mirrors into the backward world and chat with charming ghosts. Can you catch the Snark? You're closer than ever!
Reference accessed HERE. 4th Nov 2018
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The Game:
At this point, trying to draw a distinction between Alawar’s hidden object games is sort of like a theological discussion about angels fitting on the heads of pins. Apart from that one, weird interlude where they decided to make a hidden object game without hidden objects, in general the same things could be said for Snark Busters: High Society that you could’ve said for Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death, Mountain Crime: Requital and Twisted Lands: Shadow Town.
What does that mean? Well, for starters, it means you have thoroughly mediocre graphics, comically bad voice acting, and a storyline that you’re probably better off not thinking about too much. The plot follows the developer’s tradition of starting off normal-ish enough (an evil socialite has made claims about an innocent man!), before veering off into all kinds of supernatural weirdness. Basically, if you’ve played any previous Alawar hidden object games, you know what to expect.
It also means, though, that you can expect some decent hidden object scenes while you’re at it. In fact, in this respect, Snark Busters: High Society does seem to mix things up ever so slightly. Rather than giving you an image and a completely unrelated list of things to find, this time out the hidden objects you’re looking for serves a purpose within any given scene — so, for example, finding robot parts leads to a robot being built, and that robot will then do something that helps you move forward in the game. I know that cause-and-effect has been one of the building blocks of storytelling for a couple of millennia now, so it’s the kind of thing you’d probably take for granted by now, but it’s still neat to see it deployed in one of these games in a way that makes sense (compared to, say, looking for a playing card and a guitar at the bottom of the ocean, or something equally nonsensical).
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There are also straight-up puzzles. They aren’t challenging, to say the least. I mean, I’d like to think I’m just getting really good at them, but the reality is you should be able to solve them with a minimum of difficulty if you’ve ever played any game like this before.
So, moment of truth, is Snark Busters: High Society worth picking up? I think you already know the answer to that. If you’re not a fan of hidden object games, then I can’t imagine that plot-driven hidden object puzzles are going to be what suddenly wins you over. If, however, the words “plot-driven hidden object puzzles” sends a shiver of anticipation up and down your spine, then yes, you’ll want to download this yesterday.
Edited reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by Matthew Pollesel Nov 25th 2014, Reposted by Whiterabbit-uk 4th Nov 2018



Videos of Snark Busters: High Society:
You can see several in-game videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE & HERE. You can also find a written walkthrough HERE.
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Suggestions:
After you've had an opportunity to play today's giveaway please take a few moments to give some positive or negative feedback; for example, what you liked or disliked about the game, or how it could be improved. If you don't like the genre at all, please explain why and if any, what improvements would change your mind? If you don't have time to post a comment today, please do so at your convenience, thank you. If you wish to post a review or comment about the game later, you can access the comments section by going to the game giveaways home page, then scroll to the bottom of the page where it says Archives and select the date the giveaway was live (giveaway days are in bold type). This will open the appropriate page for you to post your comment or review. Alternatively, you can google the name of the game and include Gamegiveawayoftheday in the search. This should give you a list of links to whenever this game was given away.
If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE; or If you prefer to purchase the game you can get it HERE via Big Fish Games.
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Problems getting the game to work:
If you're having problems installing or activating or getting Snark Busters: High Society to work please visit the FAQ's Thread HERE and read through the communities comments because sometimes fixes have already been posted, for example, a common issue seen since the Themida wrapper was introduced three years ago is that some community members installation of the game are blocked by their security because Themida code has been known to hide malware, (usually an error message is flagged for example 'The executable is corrupted' even though in reality it is not); so as a precaution some anti malware programs will block and even delete the suspect installation files even though the files (i.e. the setup, read me and setup.gcd files are actually totally free from malware. This issue can be solved either by rebooting your computer in safe mode with networking or a quicker method is to temporarily turn off your security software to allow the installation. You could also try whitelisting the setup.gcd file. In the almost 11 years this game giveaway site has been operating there has 'never' been a game given away that was infected with malware.
If for any reason you want to contact the giveaway team, for example, you have a game to offer the community, or are unable to download the latest game or other issues that the FAQ's thread or these comments don't cover or solve you can do so HERE
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away Snark Busters: High Society and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games.
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Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:
If Snark Busters: High Society doesn't interest you, but you still hanker for something new to play, you'll find details of some game deals whether they be sale items, indie bundles or games being given away for free HERE (I've not updated the thread in a while, but most of the links still take you to the latest deals).
The rest of the information that used to be posted in the game review can be found in the forums HERE. Finally, check out Delenns threads for details of other free games and offers HERE and elsewhere in the game discussion forums HERE, (usually on the first page of the game discussion forums).

Reply   |   Comment by Whiterabbit-uk  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+14)
#8

Sorry - with only minutes left in the giveaway, I can't give a detailed report on the game by actually playing it, so I'll just say this: downloading + installation were fast and flawless. The graphics look good. I have played many other games by Alawar in the past, and they have all been winners. Thanks very much, GAOTD and MyPlayCity for what I'm sure will be a very enjoyable HOG game! (I love HOGs!)

Reply   |   Comment by M. Aronson  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#7

I have Windows 10, and the last couple of months worth of games don't work very well. They start, but there's a "horizontal hold" problem that makes it impossible to play them. Literally, a horizontal bar swings up and down on my screen, making it impossible to play the game. Anyone else have this problem?

Reply   |   Comment by OldBAM  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#6

Hello. I'd love to say Thank You to WR and to My Play City for the wonderful games. I'm not able to pay for games very often due to the low income from disability, and I look forward to each weekend and the games that are offered here. I am housebound and miss the bargains I used to find at yard sales and in game stores. I am a gamer and have been for a very long time.

I have also been a member of this site for a very long time. I am running WIN 8.1 64 bit currently on a HP Laptop with 8 GB RAM and 1 TB Hard Drive (350 T free) and I use Firefox for my Browser. I have Chrome available and I have tried to download with that as well. We have high speed broadband internet with no caps.

For the past 6 weeks its become almost impossible for me to download the games here. I have not installed anything new on my HP nor have I added any new add-ons to Firefox. Just to make sure, I have gone back to a restore point that was 7 weeks ago but the problem continues. I signed up for the email, and I follow the link in the email I receive each Saturday and Sunday to download.

I've tried at various time during the day beginning as early as 8AM, and ending at 9PM all prior to today, at EST. No matter which link I use or what time I attempt to download, the time shown it will take to download begins somewhere between 6 and 8 hrs total. Almost every time, on both days it times out and Firefox cancels the download. This occurs as many as 6 to 8 times each weekend, on both days.

Some weekends I get so frustrated I give up. I've spoken to my ISP and they can find nothing wrong on their end, but did suggest I plug directly into my router, which I have done. Nothing changed. I added the site to the whitelist, I've removed it from ad blockers I have installed, I try at different times during the day, and the only way I can successfully download any game is to sit with my laptop and monitor it for about 3 hours 'helping' to maintain the connection and prevent Firefox from cancelling the download.

I have Dropbox. Is there a way to download the games directly to there? Or to download from Dropbox?

I was able to successfully download Snark Busters: High Society, though it took me almost 4 hours, and I'm happy I was able to get the game. I was not able to download yesterday's game, not the 2 last weekend.

Thanks for any assistance anyone can offer to clear up this mystery. I have, as I hope the above explains, tried everything I can think of to fix this issue.

Gratefully,

Ila in Maine

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

Hi Ila in Maine, you sound very similar to me regarding being housebound due to disability, though I was lucky enough to get the compensation that allowed me to be free of having to earn an income. (Though it's not all good).
With respect to the issue you have. I had the same problem for about 3 months in the summer of 2017. I wasn't able to install anything from this site but was able to download stuff from elsewhere. I couldn't figure it out, then my daughter trashed my computer somehow and I was forced to replace the motherboard and some of my RAM. Anyway, I thought I would have to reinstall Windows because of changing the motherboard as I've always believed the registration was tied to both the motherboard and CPU. I did replace the motherboard with the exact same model and found that I didn't need to reinstall Windows. however, I did contact Microsoft explaining the issue I was having. I allowed them to access my computer and it only took them a minute to find the problem. Basically, I'd installed some security software that I'd got from the application side of the giveaway project but then had disabled it instead of deleting it. When I replaced the motherboard, it somehow reactivated that software, but I didn't realize it was running. As soon as the software was deleted, I was again able to download and install stuff from this site. It may be that you have some security or other application running in the background that is conflicting with the giveaway and that needs to be turned off as it may be blocking the giveaways. Because of the Themida wrapper, some security software automatically blocks giveaways, and in some cases even deletes the executable.


If it isn't the above, have you checked the FAQ's thread located over in the Game discussion forum sticky section. I usually link to it near the bottom of my reviews. you may find a fix amongst that thread.

Reply   |   Comment by Ila in Maine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

Ila in Maine,

It sounds like your laptop is timing out from inactivity. Did your ISo go through the power settings with you...Log on to your computer and click on the "Start" button. Choose "Control Panel" from the menu.Double-click on the "Power" icon in your computer's control panel. Look at the power settings for each option. Decide what you want.

Or you could use something that keeps your laptop active. Like Caffeine...https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-keep-your-computer-awake-without-touching-the-mouse/

Or you could try a downloader. What is cool about them is they usually have a "Resume" option. So if your connection drops, when you fire the Dler back up it resumes where it left off.

Right now, Shareware On Sale Has a Pro downloader for free for the next 4 days .....
https://sharewareonsale.com/s/ant-download-manager-giveaway-coupon-sale

Since Firefox and Chrome have gotten picky about their extensions, most of the DLer extensions won't work IN the browsers anymore.. So what I do, I copy the download URL and open up the DLer and ADD the URL.

I hope this helps you...From what you said, you aren't being blocked..it's the time involved in downloading these big games..AM I correct???

Reply   |   Comment by delenn13  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Ila in Maine,

I agree with WR, that it's likely [IMHO anyway] that some, possibly security related software is effecting your attempted download. In a similar situation what I'd do myself, *if disabling my security software did not work*, is try the same download using another copy of Windows, ideally one without much if any added software installed. If it works there, I've got a problem to track down in the original copy of Windows -- if it doesn't work in that 2nd copy, then likely nothing's wrong in that original copy of Windows. It's a fairly simple A/B test, telling you where to start looking.

To get a 2nd copy of Windows to test with, one fairly easy method comes to mind... download and install the free VirtualBox software -- virtualbox[.]org -- then download & import a ready made VM to use with VirtualBox from Microsoft -- developer[.]microsoft[.]com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/ . VirtualBox is a Virtual Machine Host, which uses fake hardware to run the complete copy of Windows you got from Microsoft. It'll be a little bit slower than the regular Windows on your laptop, but otherwise should work the same as any Windows PC, including downloading from GOTD.

Best Luck

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

Thank s to everyone for your helpful comments.

I have not installed anything from this site except for the Game Giveaways that are offered on Saturday and Sunday.

1) I also keep the laptop awake (in response to the comment below) by downloading embroidery designs, these are generally small less than 30K files, and do my weekly unzipping and deleting formats I don't need to keep the laptop awake. I have my power options set not to hibernate or sleep, even when closing the laptop lid.

2) I've checked Task Manager, and sent screen shots of what is running on all tabs to a geek friend of mine who could find nothing that is interfering. The only virus software I run when downloading the game is Windows Defender, but in case it was causing a problem, I have disabled it when trying to do the download.

3)I have whitelisted the site, and each week I whitelist the site again with the name of the game added to the link.

I will read and try the Virtual Box if I can muddle my way through it, I don't consider myself very proficient at computers, I think I know just enough to be dangerous.

I have to wonder though if this has to do with all the 'new' security measures at Facebook. I never use FB to log into anywhere, never have and never will, but looking back it seems that this all began when I would follow the link from my email to download and I was asked to log into FB and share the info about the free game. I didn't, but still I wonder if something didn't happen because I didn't. I only have a Facebook account for sewing reasons, but I'm thinking its become less and less necessary.

Thank you once again, if this doesn't get better, I am going to have to give up these games which I certainly don't want to do.

Ila in Maine

Reply   |   Comment by Ila in Maine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

delenn13, Thank You for responding. I downloaded the Pro Downloader and I will give it a try.

You are correct, I am not blocked, it is the excessive time involved in downloading that is the issue.

Ila in Maine

Reply   |   Comment by Ila in Maine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

mike, Thank You for taking time to reply.

I will try the Virtual Box software as you suggest.

I haven't installed anything from GGOTD except the games given on the weekend, and I've not installed anything else except embroidery files to sew out, they don't have exe files in them they are just for embroidery machines.

I appreciate your suggestion.

Ila in Maine

Reply   |   Comment by Ila in Maine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

Ila in Maine,

If that doesn't work..I have drop box..we can work something out!

Reply   |   Comment by delenn13  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

delenn13, Thank you, I also have Google Drive if that would be easier.

I can't think of anything else to try.

I have tried a pro down loader EagleGetProtable, highly recommended, I got from a site which didn't help, but on Saturday I'll try the one linked here. I'll report back and let you know.

The site I dl EagleGetProtable from has at least 520 retro games on it free. They own a repair shop, I think in Missouri, and offer many dls, free, as their way of giving back.

I love older games and the ones I've gotten from them live up to their rep - never had a problem with any of them. BTW, I had already installed the games and the pro downloaded for embroidery design long before I began having the problem with getting the games here so I'm confident they are not the problem. I have an external hard drive I keep the games on.

Wishing you a wonderful week.

Ila

Reply   |   Comment by Ila in Maine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Ila in Maine,

WOW! I just checked that downloader I suggested for you and it says"Full integration to most popular web browsers: Internet Explorer 8+, Mozilla Firefox 32+,Google Chrome 31+ and their clones ( Pale Moon, Opera, Vivaldi, Slimjet, ComodoDragon, etc.)." So that a good thing. I am gonna update my version and hopefully my browser will NOW like it. :)

I still have dropbox and Google Docs but i find I use this website more..You don't need emails just a PM so you can give the person the url of what you uploaded...

https://www.sendgb.com/

But what ever is easier for you.

Reply   |   Comment by delenn13  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

delenn13, Thank you for that wonderful link. I just tried it out and I love it. Its the best I've used and I am very impressed. I've bookmarked it and it will be using it as my go to file sender for now on.

You rock!

Ila

Reply   |   Comment by Ila in Maine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Ila in Maine,

Let me know if you can't get the game...Message me over at https://community.chrono.gg/ I am a MOD there. Yes, you will have to set up an account and search for my nick. But I don't want to depend on That Wrascally Wabbit to send messages back and forth as he is busy in his own life as these giveaways are time sensitive.

If you have Steam, we have lots of Key giveaways among the users there...Plus announcements of free games all over the net...Some are even downloads from GOG and other places.

When you get this message..just go ahead and set up an account there..so we will be ready if you can't get a download...

P.S. Yes..I rock n roll..Classic Rock that is..Thanks! :)

Reply   |   Comment by delenn13  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

delenn13, Can hardly get out of bed - flu I think. Got your comment saved the link. Will be over when I can. TY. Did click to download today's game - no go - hrs forecast to save it. Oh well. TY. Talk soon I hope.

Yes to Steam - I also have duplicate keys, love DRM from GOG.

TY again. Hope to connect soon - Classic rock is the best - I'm an 70's and 80's long hair rock'n roller. Bob Seger, and such.

Ila

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

Same here re: 70's and 80's rock. Attended many great concerts over those years and my favorite hangouts in Manchester UK were Rock World and The Banshee where you could lose yourself in the music. Rock world had three dance floors all playing rock and the alternative scenes of the time.

Reply   |   Comment by Ila in Maine  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Ila in Maine,
If you get up and feel like trying your luck, here is the link...

https://sendgb.com/gFqotiL??Xx

??=9G
Just substitute the ??'s with 9G.

I have a DL speed of 140. Took me 3 mins to DL and 30 mins to Upload.

60 and 70's for me..Some 80's music too...

Reply   |   Comment by delenn13  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

delenn13, I also love 60's music, some of the earlier music from the early 60's reminds me of my childhood. My mother always had the radio on when she was doing housework and I can still remember being surrounded by piles of washing waiting to be ironed listening to the sounds of the Dave Clark Five, Arlo Guthrie, and early Beatles songs

My father left a large collection of vinyl and CD's of 60's music, which I've been plowing through recently. I love the psychedelic stuff. I used to work at the Glastonbury festival in the late 80's to mid 90's (until family responsibilities and work took precedence) initially with Greenpeace, then the UK Green party. My job included litter picking, recycling and steward responsibilities etc. We used to get a field located near the main festival commercial area devoted to the workers with proper toilets (instead of those awful stinky festival toilets. We also had showers and a large canteen tent. We even emulated the events at Woodstock one year re the mud baths. This was for us the hight of festival luxury as everyone else who attended the festival, (which ran into the tens of thousands) would be crammed into other fields, with hardly any room. Most nights we would get close up encounters with some of the stars that were performing on stage. One of my most memorable moments was being introduced to the original members of the 60's/early 70's band Caravan. Remember the album 'In The Land Of Grey And Pink'. They played several songs for us in the canteen tent. It was brilliant.

Reply   |   Comment by Whiterabbit-uk  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Whiterabbit-uk, The 60's..herman Hermits, freddie and the Dreamers, Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Beatles, The Associations, the Supremes, the temptations, Rolling Stones, The Who..i could go on and on..2 years ago when We had to get rid of the house and downsize, I took my Vinyl to a store on consignment. I have gotten 25 and 50 dollars for one album. I have them all digital but it just isn't the same.

I went to a lot of concerts in my day. One of my roomates was at woodstock. I was 4 yrs too young to be able to go..

Hope Ila is feeling better.

Reply   |   Comment by delenn13  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

delenn13, I also checked prices of many of my vinyl records and was really shocked to see the prices people are paying for them. I have a lot of limited edition covers of some albums that are worth hundreds, but I'm loathe to sell them on, but even though I agree that vinyl recordings are better, I have read several articles that say the old reel to reel tapes are even better. Apparently, they can capture the essence of a vinyl record but have a much better audio range. I didn't fully understand the science behind it, but it seems very positive. I used to always have a reel to reel tape recorder until we had a clear out several years ago where I dumped a Sony reel to reel. They are now selling for reasonable prices. so long as you use good quality tapes, you can get really good recordings, so I'm thinking of investing in one recoding all the albums that I still like, then selling them all off. I have started to play my vinyl records again after buying a deck that also connects to the computer, so I'm able to record those, but the recording do lose something in the transfer.

Reply   |   Comment by Whiterabbit-uk  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#5

Downloaded and installed perfectly (didn't even need to disable Norton). Can't comment on game yet - I haven't even started yesterday's!

Reply   |   Comment by Sieska  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#4

please send me the free items in my email. i cannot download otherwise for some reason. thank you very much.

Reply   |   Comment by jackie kissinger  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-6)
#3

Hi, postimage site links not working they just go to postimage home page after a wait.

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

It happens occasionally. I've checked my links and they have been posted correctly. Hopefully, their techs will sort out the issue. Thanks for letting me know. If it continues I'll have to use one of the other sites I used to use. I stopped using most for various reasons, for example, one site only lets you upload one image at a time, with several mouse button clicks for each upload. Takes forever to upload 20 or so images.

Reply   |   Comment by MrL0G1C  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

Actually, I have this one on steam as part of the house of snark 6-in-1 bundle. Not a bad game.

Reply   |   Comment by MrL0G1C  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#2

This is free on other site, as most of Hidden Object games that is on the Giveawayoftheday.
https://www.myplaycity.com/high_society/
Please add a new HOG here that is not FREE

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

’’Technically’’ games from MyPlayCity (MPC) aren't free. All the games (or most of them) are commercial shareware games that are sold at most game distributors such as Big Fish Games, Alawar, and Gamehouse. MyPlayCity adds adverts and toolbars to the games and when you install the games you are redirected to their site via the adware that is included with the game; no adware or malware is injected into your computers system. The same happens whenever you close the game down. This earns MPC money; part of which is passed on to the developer of the game, basically a win-win-win for the developer, distributor and gaming community. The game giveaway version has had part of the adverts/toolbar files removed (officially).
Since the financial crisis of 2008, it became increasingly hard to find developers willing to give away thousands of copies of their games, especially before the Themida wrapper was added because some unscrupulous community members cracked the original security wrapper and would upload unprotected and registered copies of those games to peer to peer sites (usually to gain kudos), and where some may still be available to this day if you know where and what to look for. This led to some developers leaving the giveawayoftheday and those that stayed demanded a better security option to the previous wrapper; this resulted in the Themida wrapper
The giveaway team stopped daily giveaways March/April 2008 and have since given away games mainly at weekends, though for the past three years we have also had Steam key giveaways (usually limited to a few dozens to a few hundred).
What has compounded the issue of getting more free games from developers rather than sites like MPC is that many developers went out of business after the 2008 crash. Games went from $19.99 to around $6 or less, literally overnight and AAA games have in real terms come down in price significantly. (I was paying the same amount of money for some AAA game 25 years ago i.e. £30 in 1982 as I am now. £30 back then is equivalent to around £90 now). Several big AAA developers have since bitten the dust because creating big AAA games costs millions of dollars/pounds/euro's. Decent Arcade games can also cost tens of thousands of dollars/pounds/euro's both in time and financial support during development, so I think getting these games for free is amazing and I would never complain.
Personally, I’ve paid hundreds of pounds for some games (e.g. Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls, Microsofts Flight Sim, Laminars X-Plane and Dovetails Train Simulator {There’s over £9000 worth of DLC for those games alone} I'm quite happy to pay $20 for a decent arcade game, but many gamers are not as we have been spoiled for choice and price over the last decade.


Also the release of indie bundles from around 2010, where you can get games for as little as a few pence/ cents has compounded the problem of getting free games to give away; plus there are a lot more free game sites giving away games similar to the MPC model. The giveaway team still occasionally get a game that hasn't come from MPC, but sadly, it has become rarer.

Reply   |   Comment by Svante  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)

Svante, while I totally understand that it's a bit frustrating to get so many games here that are "free" on myplaycity, frankly, I prefer them from here because of the slightly more user-friendly installation and even because I've been exposed to games here I never would have found on myplaycity. That said, my real wish is for more recent HOG/adventure games, but it doesn't sound as if that's the trend.

Reply   |   Comment by neme  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)

neme,

"... my real wish is for more recent HOG/adventure games, but it doesn't sound as if that's the trend."

If you mean trend on GOTD, IMHO you're probably right. If you mean trend as in newer HOGs, both Steam & Google's Play Store have plenty of new releases. There's still a market for HOGs, so new ones are still created. One thing that's changed however is the way that game devs sell their wares -- I think most nowadays sell via Steam, or develop for Android or iOS and sell through the Apple or Google stores. I don't think either marketing approach works that well with or for sites like MPC or GOTD, e.g. as WR posted, the Steam keys that have been available on GOTD have always been in limited numbers.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

mike, you are right that some really great games are on Steam, and I'm risking a lot of hate coming my way, but I (along with quite a few folks on my security forum) am hesitant to install the required Steam stuff for privacy/security reasons, so I've always missed out on the Steam offers. Another reason I've loved GGOTD :). Plus, with 90% of my work in the last few years being devoted to probono charity work, buying games is kinda on the back burner (though yes, I know Steam often has very cheap games and even the occasional freebie from here---again, security concerns, paranoid as that may be :)).

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

Hi Neme, I felt like you in that I would not install any game clients and restricted myself to disk only games. When I had my accident I could no longer get out to my local games store, so started to order games online, but found it increasingly hard to get hard copies as developers were moving to digital only. Anyway, I started to buy the odd game from a site called Direct to Drive (then owned by IGN) and ended up buying two Steamworks games back in January 2009. I didn’t realize what Steamworks meant until I’d purchased and then tried to install them. Basically, I had to install the Steam client to be able to play the games. I complained about this and was offered a refund, but I really wanted to play both games (Defense Grid: The Awakening, which is still one of the best tower defense games I’ve ever played and a bowling game called Galactic Bowling). Anyway, I decided to install the client and within weeks discovered the Steam sales and ended up buying a bundle of decent indie games for a fraction of the price I would have paid elsewhere. To cut a long story short, I’ve now got well over 11.5K games purchased via Steam and have never had any issues with the client. The great thing about the client is that you can set it to automatically update any game with new content. Many of the moddable games have a workshop tab that enables you to automatically install modifications at the click of a mouse button and uninstall them with another. There are many other benefits using the client, such as the community, game news, and store areas. Over a period of 2 years, I made over £1500 selling the Steam trading cards to other community members that you get for free. Many games now include these as automatic drops when you play the games. If you collect a full set of cards you can convert them to various things including discount vouchers for other games of up to 75% off as well as backgrounds for the client and other saleable items Every week there are hundreds of games reduced in price with as much as 90% off the usual price plus other advantages.

Seriously, I’ve never ever had a security threat with the Steam client. Over the last several years, they have put in place security measures to ensure your games are safe. All the above said it’s down to the individual whether they would install the client. I would say you are missing out big time on some amazing games that are only available via Steam, plus there are hundreds of free games, many of them excellent. They also have the occasional free AAA game given away for free. So long as you get it within a specific period, you then own the game. Many of the other big game developers such as Ubisoft and EA Games, now also have game clients (Origin and uPlay) and have over the last few years have given many great games away for example, Battlefield 3, Assassins Creed III, Beyond Good and Evil, Driver: San Francisco, Far Cry 3, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Rayman Origins/Legends, Fallout 1 and 2, The Crew, Splinter Cell: Black List, Toy Soldiers: War Chest, Mass Effect 3, Battlefield 1942, Bejewelled 3, Burnout Paradise: Ultimate Box, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Twilight, Crusader: No Remorse, Crysis 2, Dead Space, Dead in Bermuda, Darkspore, Dragon Age Origins, Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage, Jade Empire, Special Edition, Medal of Honor, Medal of Honor Pacific Assault, Mirrors Edge, one of the Need for Speed games (can’t remember which), Nox, Plants vs Zombies, Syberia II, Syndicate (the original one), The Sims 2 and 3, Pagan Ultima VIII, Warp, and Wing Commander III come to mid with many more titles given away free via some of the indie sites. Steam keys are everywhere now. I received Conan Exiles and Warhammer Vermintide II for free, both approaching £30 each and excellent games.

Reply   |   Comment by neme  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

neme,
Hi, You'll find really good HOGs here: https://game-owl.com/hidden-object/
There's a choice of fast (paid) d/loads, or slow for free. I have decent speed internet so slow, or slower d/ls are not a problem.

Reply   |   Comment by fran  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

fran, thanks for the link; I will check it out. I do know that many of the "free" game sites are vectors for infections, another reason to love this site!

Reply   |   Comment by neme  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

neme,
Hi again, I agree with You about GGOTD, I forgot to add that 'owl' Games are clean (goes for Installer too) and that link was pointed to me by one of the trusted Mods on Forum pages here few years back (if you read Forum you know who they are), but everyone should use their own judgment when folks recommend and share various Game Sites to 'fish around' and beyond, and that's nothing new in Comments posted here.

Reply   |   Comment by fran  –  5 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
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