Installed without any problems, started ditto. I love solitair, so I was looking forward to try it out. It took me about 20 minutes to realize that I am deadly bored. The idea behind was new and it could have been really entertaining and challenging game. It is not, because HOG levels are too simple and solitaire levels uninteresting, you play the very same soiltaire over and over. I erased it.
I do see a possibility to improve the game. For HOG levels - search for different objects, not just one. Solitaire levels - there are so many types of solitaire that I would suggest to have a different one at each subsequent level.
Barbara


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

Thank you for your feedback Barbara. :)

This was an unusual combination of games, which gave it a plus point for novelty. Like other Playrix games it's bright and colourful, easy to see and fun to play, at least to begin with.

The dirty cards became a bit annoying, especially when I could see exactly where to go next, but had to clean up first - I don't think I'd want to play this for long periods at a stretch, but then I tend to play during short breaks anyway.

I can't comment on the sound because, as usual, I had my sound turned off, but on the whole I would say this is a good game to play now and again, or in between other things. Not Playrix's best, I'll agree, but better than some other manufacturers can come up with.

Original idea, good graphics, no stress required - yes, I'll keep it! Thanks for another way of distracting me from work . . .

;-D


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

Thank you for your feedback Basilica

Dear Game.giveawayoftheday is !

I downloaded it Solitaire Mystery - Stolen Power game , I tried it, but is out
of order already now announces these:

Error
Your system doesn't support screen resolution.

Messige
Error dumped to 'crash.dmp'.

What should I do? What may be the trouble, since worked already because I tried
it!

Hungarian Pusztai József


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

Hi Pusztai, Someone else asked this question yesterday. Did you read the reply? I was unable to givve a satisfactory answer and no one else posted suggestions. what I'd do is post the problem over in the game discussion forums, where thre community will see your question. The problem with posting in the comments section after the giveaway is that no one vists the page after the giveaway is over.

Really great game for the old girl too! Like the moving blocked for objects, good fix which is a flaw of many existing HOGs and the solitaire game combination best(good) implementation of putting two together, OK for me also. W7x64 Desk and Lap both run well! Thank-You.

I quite enjoyed playing this, but sadly completed the whole game from end to end in one evening. (Maybe that's a sad reflection on me rather than the game.) Thanks for the evenings entertainment though.
Glad I didn't buy it.

Installation went as usual for my old XP machine. I decided to download swayed by intrigue (I love patience and solitaire for an unwind my brain and HoGs for pattern-finding and storyline(ish)) plus the graphics look good.

However, like most above, I found the cleaning annoying, the searching boring, the storyline clumsy (although to be fair many games have laughable stories, but great stories will carry me through some less good games and good game-play can carry me through bad tales) however, the breaker for me is the frustration of not completing the card game. The cards being swept away once you had found the special card was the last straw ... I kept going a little while but left the game and will uninstall.

Sorry for the bad review because I love getting free games. Perhaps it is because I wanted to like it so much that I am so disappointed.


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

Thank you for your feedback Terzle

A very addicting game. I love it!! Not a usual hidden object game. Thank you!!

A point of clarification: this game was apparently not created / developed by Playrix. After the Playrix screen, the next screen has a logo for an outfit called "Dikobraz," which I assume is the outfit that created the game.

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



Thank you for your feedback Delilah

Hi!

I downloaded slowly, something with windows 8, only problem I've had with it!! But it downloaded and set up fine! Played quite a few rounds and the game is Very Easy!! I like more of a challenge, but maybe that happens the higher you progress..
I do agree that the eraser and oil etc. is a waste. While I understand adding some interest to the game that doesn't do it!!

Thanks for another good game,
Lee

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



Thank you for your feedback Lee

Downloaded & installed fine on my laptop running Vista.

Have had the strangest problem with downloading it to my desktop running Vista. Never had a problem downloading from this website before, have made no changes lately to my system (honest). However, I've tried several times to download. It appears to download fine, but there simply is no zip (or any other file) there when I check. Tried a couple of different download locations, even searched the hard drive to see if it was somewhere else somehow. I disabled my anti-virus in case that was causing a problem (though it never has in the past). Still no luck. No error, it goes thru the whole process of getting to 100% on the download, but there's simply no downloaded file. Not where I told it to save to, not anywhere on my hard drive.

As it downloaded ok onto my laptop, I have no doubt that it's something with my system and not the program, but it drives me batty to not be able to figure out what the heck is the problem (I've had my computer degree for more decades than I care to say, so either I'm getting old & it's something rather obvious escaping me, or it's one more sign my system needs to go into a bonfire).

Any ideas? I'm sure it's too late in the day to get this one downloaded, but would still love to have an answer to the problem.


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

Hi Merriweather,


You could copy the zip file from the laptop to your computer using a pendrive/flashdrive. Alternatively, (if you read this after the giveaway has ended) The game is available from Jenkat games free 24/7. (Just make sure you uncheck those annoying boxes if you download from there).

Alternatively, if you have any writable CD discs (as opposed to DVD discs), you could copy the file to disk then transfer from your laptop to the computer. Ideally a rewritable disc would be good, so that you aren't wasting a disc. :)

Sorry I can't be of better assistance.

p.s. have you tried downloading the zip file directly to your desktop?

I agree with most of the comments here... Game was too short and the idea of using items with the cards was not only annoying but really disrupted how you played the solitaire games. If I had paid money for this I really would seriously considered asking for it back.


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

Thank you for your feedback Denise. :)

Nice game but it would be better if there were more hidden object scenes, a few more solitaire variations, and if the game lasted a bit longer.

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

Thank you for your feedback Reality check (I agree, in fact I think they should add more of everything so as to extend the length of game play). :)

I finished it in a day. For those use to these type of solitaire games the games aren't too challenging and don't really increase in difficulty. The hardest ones are the ones with the daemons/crystal that show up once in the game. And the end is unsatisfactory. The trick is to focus on unveiling the special cards and not on clearing the board.

The "dirt" on the cards is pointless and annoying. In most games that have locked cards, one has to find another card to unlock it but in this game one just has to go into their inventory. All it does it take the player longer to play.

I'm sure I've seen this one before, likely a demo or an ad years ago. It does have a dated feel to it.

I think the best of these solitaire games I've come across was Fairway Solitaire.


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

Thank you for your excellent feedback Michael

The gripe I have is it immediately attempts Internet access when you try to open the program. Is this for high scores or?.... Never seen this on a Playrix game; rather disappointed they started doing this as well...


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

Thank you for your feedback Avid Gamer, it's not attempting internet access for me (apart from when I initially installed the game (as all giveaways do). I can't explain why it's doing it for you each time you go to play the game????

Thanks GGOTD and PlayrixE!!! This is a true masterpiece!!
Intiquing and fun with neat gameplay!! Fine graphics!!
A TEN in me and my family's playbook!!!!


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

Thanks for your feedback GeelBro, glad to see someone is really happy with todays game. :)

Oh, yes I'm downloading this for sure... a lot like Emily for the graphics, and 7.5 is a good mark from the Rabbit! Playrix always hits the mark for me, and if they're short on this one... well, I can forgive them, lol. But I love card games, and how can you go wrong with lovely graphics and music. And Stephen, so GLAD you are spending more time with your lovely family and have LESS time for us! As it should be, my friend! Keep it up! We, sir, shall survive with just as much as you can give us here. ;) Thank you, GGOTD, for another helping of free gaming. :)


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

Thank you for your feedback MNidori, nice to see you again. I hope the summer is going well with you? :)

As I write, user ratings are 140 (80%) thumbs up and 34 (20%)thums down. I simply can't believe 80% of the gamers liked this stupid, boring game. So, to download or not to download shouldn't be decided by dumb thumbs. Take your time to read Whiterabbit's reviews, it will save you time.


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

Thank you for your feedback Root. ;)

I had to do a clean install of my system earlier in the week, which meant I lost all of my games. After reading the previous comments, I decided to go ahead and take a chance on this game, thinking that it would at least give me something to do until I can build my library up again. Like the others before have said, the graphics are wonderful, but that is about the only good thing I can say. Being a Playrix game, I'm extremely disappointed. They usually have games worth keeping.


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



Hi Melanie, if the games were still present on your system (when doing a clean install there's no need to lose the actual programs, tohugh most giveaways will become deactivated due to losing the registyry entries, but most of the games are free standing, so all you need to do is open up eah games folder and send a shortcut to the desktop. Most games should still work. I think your Playrix games may be deactivated as they are installed in the traditional manner, but there's still lots of other games. If you did a format first, then the games may be recoverable using a recovery program, though if you only have one hard disc, many may have been overwritten when you reinstalled your operating system.

This is a stupid game. You can labotimize yourself for a while but unless you're a Solitaire nut, this game is just too monotonous. The odds of getting the magic cards at the bottom of the piles are slim. You could spend the whole day just trying to win one tiny portion of this game. It's rediculous. There needs to be a position at PlayRix that says "No" to certain ideas for their games. This is just stupid.


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

Thank you for your feedback Fred

Installed fine on my W7 64 bit. Agree with everyone about the dusting of cards... cute the first time but it ends up being annoying. I have enough dusting to do in my home without having to do it here.

I am okay with this being very simple... there are times when I just want something rather mindless to unwind. I work from home and I use my games as my coffee break... really easy is just fine by me.

If a more difficult version were created it could be wrapped with this one as a difficulty alternate.

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

Thank you for your feedback Lonni

Thanks for the game but that said I do agree with others, it is tedious to have to keep cleaning cards and adds nothing to the game play. When I play solitaire of mahjong solitaire for real I can win with more frequency than this game allows, which is also frustrating. I wasn't expecting a sparkling story line but with the other frustrations that becomes tedious and skipable also. It was a brave attempt at differentness in a big market. It's a 5 out of 10 from me.

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

Thank you for your feedback Foolish1

I'm very sorry, but this game is originality gone wrong. I mean the combination of solitaire and HOG (or more precisely solitaire with some HOG elements) seems to be the most original and exotic combination in the history of gaming. The problem is I love HOGs (thanks to this website) but hate solitaire. Where I live solitaire is for elderly people, a way of doing nothing while pretending you're doing something. One of my grandmas liked solitaire, but she passed away 11 years ago at the age of 90 and never used a computer (and never cared about me too much). I can't vote thumbs down, b/c the graphics is really neat, but no reason to vote thumbs up, so I didn't vote at all.

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

Thank you for your feedback Joe

Yup - that was it. I changed her screen to use normal-sized icons and the game works fine. So then I tried going into the game options and changing it to not use full-screen, and changed her icons back to 150%. I get that same error. Sigh.


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

Thank you for your feedback

I'm having the same problem on my mother's computer as Donna is! I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fact that she has vision problems and has the screen set to display things at 150%. She has Windows 7 64 bit, just like I do, and I had no problems installing it.

Well I like this game because it has a combo of games I like to play HOG and Solitaire. I do agree with some of the comments like the dusting off of cards is a bit tiresome, but what do you all want for free? Thanks GGOTD

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

Thank you for your feedback

Agree with the above posters; handsome graphics, very tedious play. Downloaded mostly because it was from Playrix. Am posting to add:

When you finish the game, a fortune-telling app is unlocked, which may appeal enough to some players to motivate them to persevere.

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

Thank you for your feedback

Fun little game, with little being the operative word. Start to finish in a couple of hours is way too short for a commercial game. It installed fine, ran great, enjoyable play so I gave it a thumbs up, but I'd be very dissapointed had I paid $20 for it.

I tried this game out through my Wild Tangent Games account, and played the whole thing in one sitting. It was ok, but not something I'd waste my coins on. However, since it is free, I am getting it, as it is just the thing when I want to mildly exercise my brain, but am not in the mood to really have to do hard thinking. :-)

Installed quickly and easily on Win 8 64bit.
Unfortunately, I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said.
The card cleaning was tedious at best and totally annoying.
Dear Devs, that "cleaning" crap made about as much sense as making the screen go completely black until we clicked the mouse button 3 times. Stupid, annoying, and pointless waste of time.
OTOH, I found the graphics to be nice and clear. The outlines of the HO part didn't seem to match totally to what I was supposed to be looking for, but that wasn't a huge deal as I was able to figure it out.
All in all, I enjoyed the solitaire games the first few plays, but after a while they got tedious and boring. I wish it had more HOG, but it's not called HO Mystery Stolen Power for a reason! LOL!
I would be disappointed if I paid for this game and probably won't be playing it again. Someone who is more of a solitaire fan may feel differently, however.
Thanks for letting us try your game.

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

Thank you for your feedback

Installed quickly on my XP 32 bit computer,graphics are excellent,BUT...I would have to agree with Delilah, Stephen and Gamezebo,the gameplay is quite boring and tedious and the dusting off of cards to continue play is just stupid.The loading from page to page of the diary is slow and makes one lose interest in the game.I expect more from Playrix since I have a number of their other games,and this game falls short of their usual quality,and a revamp of the game would be in order. I give this game a 7 based on the cool graphics,but on the other points,it falls way short.

............... moderator comment ............

Thank you for your feedback

downloaded fine but when i tried to open i got a msg my screen doesn't support the resolution and game did not open. how do i fix this?


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

Hi Donna, what monitor are you using? If you are using a netbook, that could be the problem. I seem to remember others using such devices had resolution problems? Check out the FAQ's section that I link to in my review at comment # 1.

Try temporarily changing your screen resolution. Update your graphic drivers and Direct X. (Win 8 and Win 7 DX 11, Vista DX10, XP DX 9) Of course updating your Direct X (available from Microsoft, don't download from other sites as sometimes they have hidden extra's) also depends on your graphics chip).

If you were able to find the configuratipon line that changes the game to windowed it should work; Unfortunately I'm really too busy to sort it myself at the moment.

Hopefully, someone in the community will come to your aid; in the mean time check out the FAQ's section I mention above. You'll find it in the Game discussion Sticky section of the giveaway forums. (Not to be confused with the FAQ's section in the main forum).

:idea:

I'll have a quick look in the installed games folder to see if there's anything that jumps out at me, but can't promise anything)



Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

It works fine on my system - Win 7, 64-bit. It's not challenging at all, so far. The graphics ARE very nice, as others have said. The beginning solitaire games are dull. And the "cleaning the card" thing seems unnecessary & purposeless. Like, for example, when you are playing a match-3 game & you ave some "iced-over" blocks that need to be broken..you have to work to do it. This isn't a keeper for me, very dull.

Oh and also, I have downloaded from Jenkat games..it's just fine as long as you remember to "Deny" each item during installation.


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

Thanks for your feedback and info about the Jenkat download Delenn. I hope all's well with things now. :)

Looks like interesting concept that affords some variety of styles?
Worth a d/l but mixed feelings going into game after reading initial comments about it not matching expectations. We'll see since seems one of those 'have to try for self to know'. Thanks WR and guys. Stay cool, 7th and last day of NYC heat wave in Baked Apple.


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

Thanks for your comment Beergas - same here, tohugh it's expected to stay till mid week next week. Then we get thunder storms etc.

Hi, WR/Stephen! Thanks for your friendly help and moderation, always. This is one more case where 'boilerplate text' can trip you up: This game DOES install "shortcuts to the desktop or Start Menu [and an] uninstaller"! Since, basically, there are just two types of games (those that do, and those that don't), perhaps you could have one 'boilerplate' with two paragraphs (prominently marked "1" and "2", and then you'd always have to choose between them, after pasting it in (and checking just which one the GotD was, this time); just a suggestion...



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

Darn it, I did it again. Playrix always install shortcuts. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. :) I usually do proof read everything before I post, but the last few weeks have been hectic. Our new home is now a building site, with the front garden (which was beautiful) ripped up, a gorgeous maple tree has been damaged by one of the skip wagons, they have broken two significant branches from the tree, there's gaping holes in three places and what was the garage no longer has a roof on it. That said; the builders have made amazing progress for the first 5 days of the project. There have been a few hiccups, but, thanks to my eagle eyed wife we've managed to sort every one so far. The worst was that the architect had made a major boob on the final plans. The original plans didn't include a room in the loft space with balcony, to get a decent head room throughout the new room, we had to widen the extension by about a meter so as to keep the pitch of the roof in line with all the other roofing. The architect had failed to include the new width. They had dug the footings for the concrete to be poured yesterday, but we saw the discrepancy when we went to the house in the evening. Thankfully they were very amenable and moved the footing to the correct place before the concrete arrived. Phew.

Is this game also in french?


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

If you check the installed games folder, you will find a config file, but I can't say for sure. I did check the cfg file and there is a line that says:
>

If you can find a french demo version, you could check the cfg file that you'll find in the games folder once installed. (Make sure you change the installation path so that the demo doesn't overwrite the giveaway version (though if you do it today you could see if overwriting adds the French language and still retains the registration. :) But make sure you do it before the giveaway ends, so that if it doesn't work, you can then delete all and then reinstall.

Also try swapping files from the French demo version (one at a time, to see if they will give you the French language version. Make sure the original is backed up first.

Finally, you could try writing to Playrix and ask their advice. Remember all giveaways come with no support, so they have no obligation but many developers developers still help.

This is a fun little game but way to short. From start to finish I beat the game in under an hour, but i will play it again.

Installed ok on Windows 7. Game too short for me, finished it in about an hour. I agree with Kev about the dirty card gimmick being annoying. When I found all the objects in the thief`s basement, I was expecting to have to replace them in their correct locations. Although the graphics are up to Playrix standard, the gameplay is too linear. In my opinion, a nice little game to fill an hour, but not really replayable. I would be disappointed if I had paid money for this, but OK as a freebie.



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


Thanks for your feedback Carol.

I took one look at Solitaire Mystery Stolen Power, and wanted to install it simply because of its graphics. However I agree strongly with Delilah, Stephen and Gamezebo that the gameplay is tedious and disappointing.

The storyline, which could have formed the basis for a really enjoyable hidden object/mystery game, is used as a lame excuse to link seemingly endless (and mindless) games of Pyramid and Mahjong. The game could be improved by strengthening the mystery/hidden object element, using more challenging varieties of Solitaire, and giving the player some control over what happens.

On the upside, the graphics are charming, and the music is so soothing that I didn't notice the fast loop mentioned in the review.

Thanks very much to Playrix and GGOTD for this giveaway, and to Stephen for his thoughtful and honest comments, which always make GGOTD such an interesting site to visit.



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

Thanks for your feedback Emily. I agree that this could have been a superb game if only. .... Maybe {Playrix will read our comments and amend the game. :)

(Pretty Please Playrix dev's :)

Downloaded - installed - played for 15 minutes - felt bored - uninstalled.

@Whiterabbit: I really love your comments, tips and scoring - but why do you give 8 points for "replayability" if you state yourself that the game is very simple and quite boring?
I already read comments from you with very enthusiastic descriptions - and those games didn't get more points than this one.

Cheers, Urrmeli



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


Hi Urrmeli, you are absolutely right. I love solitaire games so I was a little biased, but I agree, my scoring is way out today. The game is way to short, and very simpl;istic, so i think the replayability should be halved. Thanks for pointing this out tome. I'm sorry, I'm not as focused on this at the moemnt. As you must have read from my several comments over the last few weeks we are really busy here at the moment . I've haven't been so shattered in a long time.

WhiteRabbit:

I have to wonder about your numerical rating system. After basically panning the game, you still gave it 7.5 out of 10 - what I would expect to indicate above-average marks. If a game you disliked this much got such a high number, then there isn't much room near the top to distinguish between the games you do like.


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

Hi Bub, yes you are right. I was in a rush this morning and didn't give it enough though. Read my comment above to urrmeli, which explains a little more. Sorry for my lack of commitment at the moment.

While I have had problems in the past with false-positives from my anti-virus software, there was no problem this time. Apparently Playrix and Symantec have gotten on the same page. The dusters bit is annoying. Otherwise, it's kind of fun.


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

Thats good news. :) Glad it's sorted.

I agree with Rabbit (and Gamezebo): the game idea had a lot of potential, but doesn't live up to its promise (premise?). Not that I expect game storylines to make a lot of sense, but this one, and the combination of game types, is... downright incoherent in places. I too find the "dirty card" gimmick (where you have to clean off some of the cards with an inventory item before you can see them) to be downright annoying. I'd give it an even lower score than Rabbit did; for me, the graphics are one of its better features. I don't find it all that playable, so I doubt I'd find it very re-playable. And the originality, while good, doesn't make up for poor execution/design. Disappointing, but as usual, nice to be able to check it out for free.


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

I was looking forwards to checking this one out as I do love solitaire (reminds me of my grandmother).

I was very disappointed after playing it for an hour this morning (the demo),I wasn't able to get the full version registered as I normally can before the giveaway, so had to rely on the demo. I used Gamezebo's review, but wanted to at least add some of my own thoughts rather thasn just copy what someone else has said. I also agree with virtually everything said by Gamezebo apart from the blurry images. I thought the graphics were quite good.

Good morning Whiterabbit (Stephen), first of all how did your son get on with his Duke of Edinburgh Award, I hope he passed, but more so had a great time taking part. Anyway onto the game, I have downloaded it on Vista 32bit with no problems, not really tested it yet but will do so later this morning, and if I should encounter any problems I will post and state what the problem is, have a great day everyone, and those of us in England DON'T fall asleep in the Sun, or else you will be going into work tommorow walking like a robot & looking like a Beetroot. That's all Folks.


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

Hi Kev, my son enjoyed hiself throughy on his 'expedition'. However, it turned out only to be a practice. He's doing it for real later in September. :)

Too hot for me. That said, I did go out on Thursday and managed to build up a supply of Vit D. :) Ever since my accident I've been sun shy (I think it's a combination of the medication and maybe a little shyness as to how my self image has changed), so have become rather alabaster white. At least my cheeks and forearms look a little colored now. :) (I never was one for getitng a tan, always believed it'll turn your skin to a leathery look as you get older).

Solitaire Mystery: Stolen Power:

Installation:

Today’s giveaway downloads as a 119 MB zip file that unpacks to a read me and a wrapped setup file (the orange colored file with the key symbol), plus there's a setup file with security (setup.gcd) that's protected from being hacked (because the previous giveaway system was easily cracked). This file may case some security software to alert the user to a possible malware attack, but it 'will' be a false positive.

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

Some community members have been having problems installing games since the security software was added. It's been found that turning off your security temporarily or configuring it to accept the setup.cgd file usually sorts the problem out. Also try right clicking on the oranage colored set up file and select Run as Administrator.

To register and install the game click on the orange colored icon. Hotel Mogul is 86.9 MB in size once installed and installs to the following path by default:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Solitaire Mystery - Stolen Power
(If the install path shows the last game installed you need to clear your internet cache)


The path can be changed to suit whatever your wishes are. Once the game is installed you can delete the giveaway setup files. The game installs shortcuts to the desktop and Start Menu You'll find an uninstaller in the Start menu, which can also be accessed directly from the installed games folder. . There’s also a link to Playrix's site installed to the desktop. This isn't linked to the registry and can be deleted with no aftereffects. :)





Solitaire Mystery: Stolen Power works on both my Win 7 & Win 8 computers. I don't have a Vista or XP installation set up at the moment.

If you miss today's giveaway it is available from MyPlayCity (MPC) or Jenkat Games 24/7, but do bear in mind the potential for toolbars and home page changes everytime you boot up an MPC game. I've not used Jenkat nor MPC in quite some time. As far a sI know Jenkat games is by far the safer of the 2 w.r.t. toolbars etc.




Introduction:

The oldest deck of cards in the world has been stolen from the Museum of Ancient History. These mysterious cards are so powerful that they can withstand all the evil forces. But on one condition: not a single card should be missing from the deck. Now the cards that contain the unfathomable wisdom of the past and omnipotent knowledge of the future are scattered all around the city and it is up to you to find each card to create a deck before they fall into the hands of the villain. Save the world while enjoying an exciting mix of hidden object and solitaire!

Reference accessed HERE 13th July 2013

The Game:

The thought of a card game mixed with a hidden object adventure is a unique one, and in Solitaire Mystery: Stolen Power, we see those two worlds collide in a game that had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the final product lived up to none of it, leaving the only mystery to be where the rest of the game (and its fun) ultimately went.

The story in Solitaire Mystery: Stolen Power is just as shallow as its overall gameplay. A playing card flies into your apartment window, and it just so happens to match the description of a set of missing magical cards that can unlock unbelievable evil when placed in the wrong hands. The cards have been scattered around town, and it’s up to you to gather them back together and stop a would-be thief from gaining all of that power. Despite having no previous experience with these cards, you’re freely given the ability to investigate closed sections of a museum of antiquities, can break into the thief’s apartment for a quick snack and will otherwise go about your business of collecting these cards with no one questioning your authority.

Gameplay is incredibly simplistic, and sees the majority of your hour or so with the game being spent completing two types of solitaire: Pyramid (click on one number higher or lower than the active card) or a version of Mahjongg. The lack of Klondike solitaire is understandable here, as these two existing versions can be played much more quickly and with a higher overall rate of success than the former.

As you play through either type of solitaire, your goal will be to uncover these special magic cards in otherwise normal decks of playing cards. It’s a basic premise that takes almost no skill to complete, but you’re only given the ability to go through your deck once. With no undo option, if you happen to skip a move or accidentally click the draw pile too quickly, your mistake is permanent and will likely result in you being forced to play this particular game all over again until you can succeed.



Along the way, you’ll need to use tools like feather dusters, bug spray cans or keys to clean or unlock specific cards on the board so that you can see what the actual card is. This is an entirely unnecessary step that adds length and complexity to a formula that requires neither. Yet, there you’ll sit, waiting for the cleaning or unlock animation to complete before you can do anything else.

But wait, aren’t hidden object scenes included here too? Technically yes, along with the rare puzzle (like a jigsaw puzzle), but these are just as simple and come in the form of mass item collections (find ten books, for example) or shadow scenes where you’ll pick out the obviously mis-matched items from cluttered backgrounds based on their silhouettes.



Combine all of this with blurry graphics (even when taking advantage of the widescreen support) and a soundtrack on a very quick loop, and you have a game that is more tedious than entertaining. If the useless card-cleaning mechanic were removed, or there were simply more individual varieties of solitaire to play then this might be a more recommendable experience. As it stands though, there simply isn’t enough content here to warrant a purchase, and what’s there lacks where it counts.






Edited Reference accessed HERE July 20th 2013




Video:

You can see some video of Solitaire Mystery: Stolen Power HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE. and HERE.


Music:

If you don't like the music, ypou should be able to swap the music for some thing you like, or prefer with this game. The path to find the music is as follows:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Playrix Entertainment\Solitaire Mystery - Stolen Power\sounds\x.ogg

There are alot of ogg files in the sounds folder. Be sure to change the correct files. Many are used for the sound effects. If you choose a view that shows the file size , you should be able to see the music files as they will be much lager than the sound bites used for the effects. Be sure to back up any files you decide to exchange. You will need to convert the music files you choose to the .ogg format using a suitable audio converter.




Minimum System Specifications:








Conclusion:




A relatively easy game, with an unusual combination of solitaire and hidden object games. The HOG potionh of he game is very easy, with simple levels such as find a certain number of cards or shapes. The game plays smoothly; I just wish the game was more balanced i.e. With less solitaire and more HOG. :)

Score:

Overall I'd give this game the following score:

Gameplay - 7 (biased a sI like solitaire - probably more like 6)

Graphics - 7

Replayability - 4

Originality - 8




Totals 26 out of 40 which is equivalent to 6.5 out of 10

N.B.

I've reassessed the score as initially I'd scored it a 7.5, which was quite high considering my opinions above. I've been so busy of late, I've not been 100% as other important things (home andfamily) have been taking priority over my reviews and moderating for a few months now. (Only 7 more weeks to go then i should be in a better position to devote more time to the giveaway project)

You could also argue that the score is still artificially high due to the high score I've given to originality. I've never seen a solitaire game joined with a HOG, so the originallity score was a fair assesment, but it does skew the overall score somewhat because I've not used the audio score this time as I didn't bother to have my headset turned on. If you removed the originality score the game would score 6 out of 10

Problems with the game?:

If you have any problems installing or playing today's game please go to the game discussion forums where you'll find a FAQ's section HERE.

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If today's game doesn't take your fancy then check out the game discussion forums and the free games synopsis. We’ve posted a couple of thousand free games over the last four years, many of which are excellent alternatives to their commercial cousins.

The Steam summer Sale started last week and continues till the 22nd July. . you'll find hundreds of deals, plus every day there's a 24 hr deal that appears to be carried over for a further day, plus there's flash sales every 8 hours. There are some brilliant bargains. You can all the details HERE . The main page only shows you the latest deals. To see all of the game son sale Click on the games tab along the top of the Steam page and select your genre, then go to the right hand panel where it says 'find More then click on the games link (you'll see the number of games in that category next to it for example, in the action genre next to games you should see 1352 games (this may differ slightly from region to region as not all games are available in all regions. All the games that are on sale will have the percentage off next to the price (usually in a green box)


For more deals check out the latest game available on IndieGameStand HERE
You can pay as much as you want but no less than $1. The present game is Pitman and if you pay over the average payment you'll get a second game called Tri Alpha.
There's also quite a few decent deals over on Desura, Greenman Gaming as well as other game distributors such as Gamersgate and Gamefly. Finally, you'll also find a few indie bundles still live. You'll find details of all the bundles still available over in the first two pages of the Game discussion forums HERE (These are the best way to get bargains as you can often get $100 plus worth of game sfor around $5 or less. (e.g. last November/December THQ sold their entire recent catalogue worth almost $500 for less than $6) Check out the Bundle Stars deals for the best bundles around at the moment.

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A Request for help:

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

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

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

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen

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