In reference to the discussion started in #2 by Ian, and many others before, there **is** something nasty/inappropriate/clumsy (according to your current opinion on GOTD) about the visibility of game giveaways.

Today (Saturday) I just checked the new giveaway on https://www.giveawayoftheday.com.
Below the two current giveaways I saw Wild Island Quest as the supposedly current game giveaway. I clicked and landed on a "join and win" page. As it happens the button "Join & Win" on the first page was not visible on my screen.

Now how to get the real game giveaway that's really given away ? Here's what you have to do :
- if you're on a "Join and Win" page, click on Game even though the right upper corner indicates with an orange line that you're a Game page. A bit misleading but this is the same for regular giveaways (when there are two of them)
- if you're on the regular giveaway page, click on Game, somewhere in the right upper corner and not on the game announced as "Game giveaway of the day" in the left lower corner. Quite misleading.

When there are two regular giveaways they're announced side by side. Game giveaways are never announced side by side when there are two of them. Go figure why !

You may or not enjoy the join and win concept at GOTD but it's a pity this kind of "gift" somewhat shadows the real game gifts.

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

Hi eb235

This is the first page that opens for me when I click on the Gamegiveawayoftheday link:

Games are not giveaway if you have to win them. Nonetheless, we should all be grateful for the games winable or free.

Hey Wabbit,

This was up last night but I got home late. Summer is here..so busy..busy.... busy!

Giveaway Club is giving away Alice’s Jigsaw: Wonderland Chronicles by MyPlayCity

Exclusive Giveaway Club and MyPlayCity offer: no third-party ads and browser add-ons!
Visit the Wonderland in a new puzzle game Alice’s Jigsaw: Wonderland Chronicles!
Alice is known all over the world from the fairy-tale, filled with magic, iconic characters and whimsical story elements. It’s time to enjoy this amazing story once again and play the captivating game. The game Alice’s Jigsaw: Wonderland Chronicles is filled with 120 mosaic brain teasers, high-quality photographs all with specially-picked themes showing the magical world of Alice in a more modern style and lots of fun! Solve puzzles and beat levels in 6 exciting worlds and visit the famous tea party!
Features:
120 unique puzzles
6 locations
Magical fairy-tale setting

http://games.giveaway-club.com/

Hope you and the family are doing great. Huggles....

Nice of GOTD to NOT give a game away, but to enter for a chance to win one. If only 10,000 people were to enter they have a chance to win 1 of 25 licenses .... 25 licenses?? Is this not Giveawayoftheday? Have I accidentally put the wrong url into my browser??? WIN a game license?? Aren't you supposed to GIVE them away, hence the mane of your site??? And why win such a puny amount of licenses anyway?? It's pointless giving such a small amount of licenses away!!

And btw, you'd have a 1 in 400 chance to win a license if only 10,000 people entered the competition. Maybe change the name of the website to competitionoftheday.com???

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

Hello Ian, sorry you feel that way, still as I say below, any chance is better than none at all.

I've tried to explain many of times over the years community members have suggested such changes. The original title of the site i.e. GameGiveawayoftheday became very popular as I'm sure you can imagine, when they were giving away a wide range of commercial arcade games every day for over 18 months. This gave the site a very good standing with the major search engines, so that just searching for a particular phrase that you may have posted on the site would yield excellent search results; usually with the comment you searched for showing up in the first couple of search lines. Changing their name would firstly negate that good standing and would also lose them many community members who know of the site, but are not regular visitors; so, despite not getting a game every day, the name remains and will never change. As for winning a license for each of the games offered on Monday, the odds of winning are no where near what you quoted. Still, any chance is better than no chance at all. Some giveaways of this type are almost 100% certain to gain you a Steam key for example last weeks competition giveaway i.e. Megamagic: Wizards of the Neon Age ; the number of entries compared to the number of licenses and the number each community member could gain over the week meant that there was over a 100% chance of winning a key. Both my children (18 and 16 years old) both entered last weeks competition and both won a key despite my daughter only entering on the last day. For those who gained the full complement of entries over the week had almost a 150% chance of winning a key, which meant that they should have won a key, and it's likely there were a few spare keys left over. . Yes, this weeks games are much less likely to be won by any member, but the chance is still there.

As for your math calculation saying that you only have a 1 in 400 chance of winning a key. That's totally skewed and wrong becasue you didn't take into account that each member entering has the potential to gain 45 entries on the first day and a further 20 every other day. In fact at this point in time, assuming you've gained all the possible entries you can gain by Wednesday afternoon will give you a 1 in 4.8 (rounded up) chance of winning a key for Wild Island Quest, a little under 25%, that's not too bad and for The Barbarian and the Subterranean Caves the chance of winning at this time is just over 1 in 8.5, that's an 11.7% chance of winning. A far cry from your 1 in 400. Please do the math yourself.

Of course this is assuming each community member enters on the Monday and returns each day to gain the extra 20 entries. i.e for Wild Island at the time I looked there were 10105 entries. Divide that by the offered 25 keys equals 404.2. That seems to imply a 1 in 400 chance of winning, however, as I said above, you forgot to take account of the fact that each community member entering had on the first day 45 entries, plus a further 20 entries each successive day of the giveaway. Today that number has increased to 45 + 20 + 20 = 85. Dividing 85 into the 404.2 gives the actual possibility of winning i.e. 404.2 divide by 85 equals 4.76 (rounded down). Of course I am making some assumptions (i.e. that everyone enters and gains the total number of possible entries, but from previous calculations of this type I've been fairly accurate. The percentage chance of winning does reduce a little over the coming days, but it's not likely to change significantly.

If you do enter, good luck.

Please only post comments about today's game giveaway; other comments either inappropriate, or comments with only one or a few words; for example good, thank you, TY, bad, rubbish, this game is ~%!£*? etc , or if the comment has nothing to do with today's game they may be deleted at the moderator or administrators discretion; however, a little light banter among community members and with the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit is acceptable and welcomed. All comments not specifically about today's game giveaway will be judged by the moderator and if deemed inappropriate, will be deleted and usually with no explanation. Please see the moderation policy HERE for details about posting comments. If you are having problems installing the game check the FAQ's thread HERE and read through the communities comments because sometimes fixes have already been posted; and 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

In Brief

An interactive visual novel with adult themes not suitable for children and rated 18+. The developer has gone into a brief explanation below in the Game section.

Suggestions:

If you win a key for The Barbarian and the Subterranean Caves please give some feedback about your opinion of the game, for example, what you liked or disliked about it, or how it could be improved from your point of view . If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What, improvements, if any, would change your opinion? There are thousands of subscribers to the game giveaway of the day every weekend which makes this an ideal forum for giving developers ideas as to what their consumers (i.e you) would like to see in a game. For example, you could suggest extra content such as better or more original mini games, or a level editor that you would like to see that would make it more appealing to you. Maybe you think the graphics are a little dated and are in need of re skinning, or maybe you've just had enough of the genre and want to see something different or something with more originality?

If you don't win a key, don't mind playing games via Steam or miss the offer totally you can get the game 24/7 via Steam HERE. It usually costs £3.99/$4.99,

Introduction:

The Barbarian and the Subterranean Caves is an adventure visual novel about the heroic feats of the intrepid warrior Ragnar. Now you can become the famed adventurer Ragnar and bravely seek out all-new original adventures in this exciting game. Delve into the mysteries of the caves and discover what lies in waiting below

Reference accessed HERE 19th June 2017

Installation:

Assuming you win one of the 25 Steam keys for The Barbarian and the Subterranean Caves, once you've found it (should be sent to the email you used to enter the giveaway - it must be the email you first used to sign into the game giveaway site. If you’ve used a throwaway email there may be problems getting a key, because the key may be sent to that email. If you have any problems use the contact form HERE. You have to activate the game via your Steam client. Once activated it will be permanently tied to your Steam profile and you'll be able to install the game at any time, anywhere on any computer, so long as you can validate who you are (usually via emails etc.). If you don't have a Steam account you will first have to download and install the Steam client HERE

Then create a Steam profile/account. Once that has been completed you can input the Steam code that you've received (after completing the form filling) via the game button along the top of the Steam client, (located between friends and Help). From the drop down menu select 'Activate a product on Steam'. This opens a product activation window. Just follow the prompts to complete activation. Once the Steam code has been accepted, the game will be permanently associated with your Steam account and can be installed any time you wish.

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting The Barbarian and the Subterranean Caves to work, please visit the problems section over in the Game Discussion forums, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

The Game:

This game is visual novel. You cannot directly control the 3D model of the protagonist, you will advance the game plot using textual links

Message from the developer about the 18+ rating: We must make things clear, in order to avoid misunderstanding of 18+ content rating of our game. This label does not mean that this is a game with adult content. In fact, there is no adult content at all. According to the laws, games containing scenes of smoking, drinking of alchoholic beverages, usage of mild drugs are prohibited for the children. Our heroes drink wine, smoke hookah (presumably with mild drugs :) ).

Also our game contains quite a bit of erotic scenes, scenes of violence and gambling.

The Barbarian and the Subterranean Caves is an adventure visual novel about the heroic feats of the intrepid warrior Ragnar. Now you can become the famed adventurer Ragnar and bravely seek out all-new original adventures in this exciting game.

Delve into the mysteries of the caves and discover what lies in waiting below. Ready your sword: you will investigate sprawling, far-reaching webs of intrigues and unmask the cunning evildoer who stands in your way. Can you tell a friend from a foe; who wants to manipulate you and who really needs your help?

Ragnar has six qualities you can choose from; each one influences the plot in its own way. But you must strategize well because you may only choose three. These are Literacy,Deception recognition, Attention to detail, Keen hearing, Night Vision and Thievery.

Conquer all those who oppose you, overcome difficulties, let your conscience guide you through tough choices, and don't let lies ensnare you in a sticky web. Take control over your hero's destiny to unlock the multiple endings and get the richest rewards. Discover the truth in the darkest depths of the subterranean caves.

Main Features:

⦁ Non-linear, choose-your-own-adventure plot
⦁ Unique endings to find
⦁ More than 300 detailed illustrations
⦁ Mosaic plot that completely opens by only completing a few storylines
⦁ Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, Mac, Linux)
⦁ Steam trading cards and badges
⦁ Achievements
⦁ Steam Cloud support

Reference accessed HERE 19th June 2017

Community Reviews and Gameplay Videos:

You can see Steam community reviews of HERE, and some game-play videos HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the developer NLB project for giving away 25 keys for this visual novel and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games, in this case a Steam key.

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

The problems section that used to be posted here in the Game review is now included in the Game Discussion FAQ's thread; which you can find HERE.

I've updated the games section that used to be posted with the review. The thread is now called 'Weekly round up of game deals', formerly the games section of the weekly reviews. You can find the new thread (which I've posted in the sticky section of the game discussion forums to make it easier to find if you are perusing the game discussion forums) HERE.

The rest of the information that used to be posted here can be found in the forums HERE. Finally, check out Delenns thread over in the forums HERE. There are games available for free, some of which are limited to the number of free keys available. The thread is worth checking regularly as Delenn has been posting links to various freebies on a regular basis recently.