Explore an intriguing world in The Book of Desires! FREE game on GOTD!

#1

I will wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that you all have a brilliant year. My New Years resolution is to spend as much time as I can helping my son get his Pharmacy place at university. He's got a couple of interviews, so we need to get him prepared as they are very strict on giving out places.

If you have time to post a comment it is appreciated. Unfortunately I won't be able to moderate for much of the day. We traditionally have family over all New Years Eve/New Years day to celebrate Hogmanay. I will moderate any comments whenever I get a few spare moments. If you have time to post a comment today it is appreciated, but as it's New Years, I presume most of you will be visiting family, or celebrating in other ways. Have a fantastic first day of 2017. I hope the New Year brings joy, happiness and success to all who visit here :)

(Lets' hope world peace is attained this year - I love Groundhog days)

Thank you to all who took the time to post feedback about last weeks and yesterdays games, and I hope you all received something very special for Christmas, I did. :)

Please only post comments about the game being given away today; other comments either not appropriate, or not about the game may be deleted; however a little light banter among community members and with the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit will be allowed, and will be judged by the moderator as to whether it is suitable or not to be left.

I am posting this in light of the massive increase in negative comments, inappropriate comments and spam that have occurred over the past several months since the site was updated and in particular since the site started to give away games from the Steam world. I truly believe that if we get lots of decent feedback about the games we get here, more developers will be happy to give away their games. Seeing lots of complaints instead of feedback about the game will not persuade developers to give their games away for free. So please bear this in mind when posting your comments. Negative feedback about the games given away is always welcomed as that can also be very constructive for developers, however, complaining about the way the site is operating or problems about downloading or installing the games should be directed to the giveawayoftheday contact form which I've linked to HERE, alternatively, if the problem is game related and it is late in the day (I can't moderate 24 hours a day), please also post your issue in the forums where you may get a response from the community. Often, such problems are related to your computers set up. i.e. your security may block the installation (for example quite a few game giveaways I've installed have been blocked by my copy of Zemana Anti-malware suite) Also please read the moderation policy which can be found HERE and if you do have a problem please check the FAQ's thread HERE. Thank you.

The Book of Desires

In Brief

A Hidden Object game with excellent graphics and some decent puzzles

Suggestions:

Whether you like or dislike The Book of Desires please give some feedback about your opinion of the game, for example, what you liked or disliked about the game, and how it could be improved from your point of view. If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What improvements 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 miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via MyPlayCity 24/7 HERE. Alternatively, If you prefer the game tied to your Steam account, where you can download and install it at any time on any computer via your Steam account you can also buy this game via the Steam store HERE with 75% off till Monday 2nd Jan it's a measly £1.24/$1.74.

Installation:

The game downloads to a 318 MB zip file that unzips to four files, (a setup.gcd security wrapper, the set up file and a read me). Those with multiple hard drives are able to save games on any drive they wish. The newly installed game is 345 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\The Book of Desires

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:

Help Ashley get out of the nightmare world in the mysterious game The Book of Desires! Get ready for a dark adventure with this gorgeous Hidden Object game! After Ashley witnesses her parents’ quarrel she is very upset. As a result she sees a nightmare. She is trapped in a parallel world with skeletons and ghosts. All of them are talking about some Book of Desires. Ashley hopes it is just a dream. But the next day she meets a stranger in a bookstore, who presents a magic book to the girl. You are simply to right down your wish in the book and the wish will come true immediately. So Ashley writes she doesn't want her parents to quarrel, and this is how her adventures start. Help her survive in the parallel world and find the way out of it in the exciting game The Book of Desires! Choose the game mode: the Normal one (the hints will charge quickly and active objects will shimmer) or the Expert one (the hints will charge slower and you won't see the active objects). You will search for the hidden objects, solve puzzles and fix broken mechanisms using necessary tools from the inventory. You will travel to a World of Unfulfilled Dreams where the prisoners of their own desires live. Help them escape from this god forsaken place! Defeat the evil book-keeper and set everyone free! And remember that only the person with a pure heart can cope with the sacred mission in the game The Book of Desires!

Reference accessed HERE. 2016

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting The Book of Desires to work please visit the problems section, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

The Game:

The Book of Desires is a typical HOG, though one that puts a massive emphasis on puzzle solving. Instead of simply solving hidden object scenes to progress the plot, you also need to gather up items and use them at the correct times and places as you explore the game’s world. There are also puzzles you are occasionally asked to solve in order to proceed, but these can be skipped. There are two difficulty levels, but the only real difference between them is a shimmer effect for active objects and how quickly the hint timer charges up.

The world of The Book of Desires exists entirely within the dreams of a little girl who got upset when she saw her parents argue. On her way to school the next day, she’s given a magic book by a mysterious bookstore owner who says that whatever she writes in it will come true. Before she goes to bed that night, she writes in the book a wish that her parents never fought. This appears to confound the book, which is possessed by evil magic and doesn’t know what to do with a benevolent wish.

So the game is basically a long quest to extract your soul from the book, by destroying the witch and freeing it from evil influence. This involves gathering objects you need by solving hidden object scenes, which is perfectly sensible, and then using your items to solve puzzles that can border on the arcade. Most puzzles have multiple steps that require you to collect several items and visit many different game locations. Some of them feel goofy and arbitrary, particularly a puzzle where you need to obtain a sword from a merchant’s ghost and use it cut down cacti that are blocking the entrance to a magic room hollowed out of an oak tree.

The hint feature makes even the most obtuse puzzles tolerable, and its slow recharge time even on default difficulty encourages you to solve as many puzzles as you can on your own. The environments you visit are interesting, although localization problems keep the game from ever really becoming captivating. As soon as you’re about to really get into it, you hit a bit of laughable grammar or something in a hidden object scene that’s hard to find because the game used a strange or unusual word for it.

You can probably finish The Book of Desires in around six hours, and the game has no real replay value. Getting to the end isn’t especially satisfying, since the game decides to end on a rather cliched cliffhanger. Still, the journey itself is fairly enjoyable. While there aren’t tons of hidden object scenes, the ones that are there are well-done. A few of the puzzles are fairly clever instead of just strange, and all told, The Book of Desires makes for an enjoyable diversion if you’re into hidden object games.

Edited reference accessed HERE. Originally posted by Alicia Ashby on Apr 22, 2012, edited by Whiterabbit-uk 1st Jan 2017

Other Reviews, Videos and a Slideshow of images showing the How to Play pages:

You can see community reviews of The Book of Desires HERE and more information in the Big fish forums HERE

if you want to see some game play you can see some videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. You can also see a walkthrough of The Book of Desires HERE

Conclusion:

A nicley put together Hidden Object game, that i'm sure HOG fans will love. The puzzles are interesting, the standard HOG pages are okay and the graphics and animations are excellent. In my opinion well worth getting. i purchased this game when ot was first released on Steam just over a year ago, though the game iteslef was released about 4 years ago.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away The Book of Desires minus the usual MPC checkboxes and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games, in this case Steam keys.

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. I don't update it very often now, but it does have links to the more popular indie bundle sites where you can get some fantastic deals on games, with up to 95% off many games. . You can find the 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.

If today's game was not to your liking, you may find other games either free or for less than the price of a cup of coffee (from your favorite coffee house) via the 'Weekly Roundup of Game Deals' thread which I've posted a link to above, or HERE.
.
The latest free game over on Origin is still the old classic Dungeon Keeper (I suspect it will be changing soon). You can get it HERE and see a couple of videos of game play HERE and HERE Please note that you do require the Origin game platform to be able to download and install the game.

. . Assassins Creed III (an open world medieval first person/third person action/adventure game) is still available as part of Ubisofts 30th anniversary celebrations but you do require a free Ubisoft account and the free uPlay client installed to get the game, which you will find HERE. You'll need over 22GB of free space to install the game. It's not the best Assassins Creed game, in fact I seem to remember many fans of the franchise were very disappointed with the game, but personally I thought it was excellent. and the community reviews over on Steam are mainly positive as well. You can read those HERE. Do hurry as this offer ends soon.

You can get a free copy (Steam Key) of Woodle Tree Adventures (which must be redeemed withing 2 weeks) HERE. This deal ends Monday morning.

Finally, check out the Steam stores specials tab, you'll find thousands of games on sale ranging from 10% to 95% off, with 100's of games less than a dollar (£0.69p). The Steam Christmas sale Ends on the 2nd January around 6pm UK time.

<blockquote>I will wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that you all have a brilliant year. My New Years resolution is to spend as much time as I can helping my son get his Pharmacy place at university. He's got a couple of interviews, so we need to get him prepared as they are very strict on giving out places.</blockquote>

<blockquote>If you have time to post a comment it is appreciated. Unfortunately I won't be able to moderate for much of the day. We traditionally have family over all New Years Eve/New Years day to celebrate Hogmanay. I will moderate any comments whenever I get a few spare moments. If you have time to post a comment today it is appreciated, but as it's New Years, I presume most of you will be visiting family, or celebrating in other ways. Have a fantastic first day of 2017. I hope the New Year brings joy, happiness and success to all who visit here :)</blockquote> (Lets' hope world peace is attained this year - I love Groundhog days)<blockquote>Thank you to all who took the time to post feedback about last weeks and yesterdays games, and I hope you all received something very special for Christmas, I did. :)</blockquote>

<blockquote>Please only post comments about the game being given away today; other comments either not appropriate, or not about the game may be deleted; however a little light banter among community members and with the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit will be allowed, and will be judged by the moderator as to whether it is suitable or not to be left.</blockquote> <blockquote>I am posting this in light of the massive increase in negative comments, inappropriate comments and spam that have occurred over the past several months since the site was updated and in particular since the site started to give away games from the Steam world. I truly believe that if we get lots of decent feedback about the games we get here, more developers will be happy to give away their games. Seeing lots of complaints instead of feedback about the game will not persuade developers to give their games away for free. So please bear this in mind when posting your comments. Negative feedback about the games given away is always welcomed as that can also be very constructive for developers, however, complaining about the way the site is operating or problems about downloading or installing the games should be directed to the giveawayoftheday contact form which I've linked to <a href="https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/about/contact/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, alternatively, if the problem is game related and it is late in the day (I can't moderate 24 hours a day), please also post your issue in the forums where you may get a response from the community. Often, such problems are related to your computers set up. i.e. your security may block the installation (for example quite a few game giveaways I've installed have been blocked by my copy of Zemana Anti-malware suite) Also please read the moderation policy which can be found <a href="https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/faq/#moderation" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and if you do have a problem please check the FAQ's thread <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. Thank you.</blockquote></ul>

<blockquote>The Book of Desires</blockquote>

<blockquote>In Brief</blockquote>
<blockquote>A Hidden Object game with excellent graphics and some decent puzzles</blockquote>

<blockquote>Suggestions:</blockquote>
<blockquote>Whether you like or dislike The Book of Desires please give some feedback about your opinion of the game, for example, what you liked or disliked about the game, and how it could be improved from your point of view. If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What improvements 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?</blockquote>

<blockquote>If you miss today's game giveaway you can always get the game via MyPlayCity 24/7 <a href="http://www.myplaycity.com/desires/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. Alternatively, If you prefer the game tied to your Steam account, where you can download and install it at any time on any computer via your Steam account you can also buy this game via the Steam store <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/428260/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> with 75% off till Monday 2nd Jan it's a measly £1.24/$1.74.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Installation:</blockquote>

<blockquote>The game downloads to a 318 MB zip file that unzips to four files, (a setup.gcd security wrapper, the set up file and a read me). Those with multiple hard drives are able to save games on any drive they wish. The newly installed game is 345 MB in size. The game installs to the following path by default, but can be changed by the user if you prefer:</blockquote>
<blockquote>C:\Program Files (x86)\MyPlayCity.com\The Book of Desires</blockquote>
 <blockquote>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)</blockquote>

<blockquote>Introduction:</blockquote>
<blockquote>Help Ashley get out of the nightmare world in the mysterious game The Book of Desires! Get ready for a dark adventure with this gorgeous Hidden Object game! After Ashley witnesses her parents’ quarrel she is very upset. As a result she sees a nightmare. She is trapped in a parallel world with skeletons and ghosts. All of them are talking about some Book of Desires. Ashley hopes it is just a dream. But the next day she meets a stranger in a bookstore, who presents a magic book to the girl. You are simply to right down your wish in the book and the wish will come true immediately. So Ashley writes she doesn't want her parents to quarrel, and this is how her adventures start. Help her survive in the parallel world and find the way out of it in the exciting game The Book of Desires! Choose the game mode: the Normal one (the hints will charge quickly and active objects will shimmer) or the Expert one (the hints will charge slower and you won't see the active objects). You will search for the hidden objects, solve puzzles and fix broken mechanisms using necessary tools from the inventory. You will travel to a World of Unfulfilled Dreams where the prisoners of their own desires live. Help them escape from this god forsaken place! Defeat the evil book-keeper and set everyone free! And remember that only the person with a pure heart can cope with the sacred mission in the game The Book of Desires! </blockquote>

<blockquote>Reference accessed <a href="http://www.myplaycity.com/desires/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. 2016</blockquote>

<blockquote>If you have a problem installing or activating or getting The Book of Desires to work please visit the problems section, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647" rel="nofollow">HERE</a></blockquote>

<blockquote>The Book of Desires is a typical HOG, though one that puts a massive emphasis on puzzle solving. Instead of simply solving hidden object scenes to progress the plot, you also need to gather up items and use them at the correct times and places as you explore the game’s world. There are also puzzles you are occasionally asked to solve in order to proceed, but these can be skipped. There are two difficulty levels, but the only real difference between them is a shimmer effect for active objects and how quickly the hint timer charges up.</blockquote>
<ul><blockquote><a href='https://postimg.org/image/tr7kqvdbh/' target='_blank'><img src='https://s30.postimg.org/5apeweckx/Ashampoo_Snap_2017_01_01_15h08m32s_010.png' border='0' alt="Ashampoo_Snap_2017.01.01_15h08m32s_010_"/></a></blockquote></ul>
<ul><blockquote><a href='https://postimg.org/image/3x2deu2p9/' target='_blank'><img src='https://s30.postimg.org/bpt16t8oh/Ashampoo_Snap_2017_01_01_15h09m01s_011.png' border='0' alt="Ashampoo_Snap_2017.01.01_15h09m01s_011_"/></a></blockquote></ul>

<blockquote>The world of The Book of Desires exists entirely within the dreams of a little girl who got upset when she saw her parents argue. On her way to school the next day, she’s given a magic book by a mysterious bookstore owner who says that whatever she writes in it will come true. Before she goes to bed that night, she writes in the book a wish that her parents never fought. This appears to confound the book, which is possessed by evil magic and doesn’t know what to do with a benevolent wish.</blockquote>

<blockquote>So the game is basically a long quest to extract your soul from the book, by destroying the witch and freeing it from evil influence. This involves gathering objects you need by solving hidden object scenes, which is perfectly sensible, and then using your items to solve puzzles that can border on the arcade. Most puzzles have multiple steps that require you to collect several items and visit many different game locations. Some of them feel goofy and arbitrary, particularly a puzzle where you need to obtain a sword from a merchant’s ghost and use it cut down cacti that are blocking the entrance to a magic room hollowed out of an oak tree.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The hint feature makes even the most obtuse puzzles tolerable, and its slow recharge time even on default difficulty encourages you to solve as many puzzles as you can on your own. The environments you visit are interesting, although localization problems keep the game from ever really becoming captivating. As soon as you’re about to really get into it, you hit a bit of laughable grammar or something in a hidden object scene that’s hard to find because the game used a strange or unusual word for it.</blockquote>

<blockquote>You can probably finish The Book of Desires in around six hours, and the game has no real replay value. Getting to the end isn’t especially satisfying, since the game decides to end on a rather cliched cliffhanger. Still, the journey itself is fairly enjoyable. While there aren’t tons of hidden object scenes, the ones that are there are well-done. A few of the puzzles are fairly clever instead of just strange, and all told, The Book of Desires makes for an enjoyable diversion if you’re into hidden object games.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Edited reference accessed <a href="http://www.gamezebo.com/2012/04/22/book-desires-review/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. Originally posted by Alicia Ashby	 on Apr 22, 2012, edited by Whiterabbit-uk 1st Jan 2017</blockquote>

<blockquote>Other Reviews, Videos and a Slideshow of images showing the How to Play pages:<blockquote>

<blockquote>You can see community reviews of The Book of Desires <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/games/7119/the-book-of-desires/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and more information in the Big fish forums <a href="http://forums.bigfishgames.com/forums/show/2804.page" rel="nofollow">HERE</a></blockquote>

<blockquote>if you want to see some game play you can see some videos of game play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5MWnrlqHus" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpcYb4BuK6U" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJxcfe3Avmc" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DqhTwo3SkY" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkosSJwLUyg" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. You can also see a walkthrough of The Book of Desires <a href="http://www.bigfishgames.com/blog/walkthrough/the-book-of-desires-walkthrough/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a></blockquote>

<blockquote>Conclusion:</blockquote>
<blockquote>A nicley put together Hidden Object game, that i'm sure HOG fans will love. The puzzles are interesting, the standard HOG pages are okay and the graphics and animations are excellent. In my opinion well worth getting. i purchased this game when ot was first released on Steam just over a year ago, though the game iteslef was released about 4 years ago.</blockquote>

<blockquote>I'd like to take this opportunity to thank MyPlayCity for giving away The Book of Desires minus the usual MPC checkboxes and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games, in this case Steam keys.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:</blockquote>

<blockquote>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 <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.</blockquote>

<blockquote> 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. I don't update it very often now, but it does have links to the more popular indie bundle sites where you can get some fantastic deals on games, with up to 95% off many games. . You can find the 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) <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/458939#post-569898" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.</blockquote>

<blockquote>If today's game was not to your liking, you may find other games either free or for less than the price of a cup of coffee (from your favorite coffee house) via the 'Weekly Roundup of Game Deals' thread which I've posted a link to above, or <a href="http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/458939" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.</blockquote>. <blockquote>The latest free game over on Origin is still the old classic Dungeon Keeper (I suspect it will be changing soon). You can get it <a href="https://www.origin.com/en-gb/store/free-games/on-the-house" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and see a couple of videos of game play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hemCK_VEXaA&list=PLWeLjaenrEaS2Oa3wRFiDeUE2bjhuhvtY" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Tb03nlGDw" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> Please note that you do require the Origin game platform to be able to download and install the game.</blockquote>

<blockquote>. . Assassins Creed III (an open world medieval first person/third person action/adventure game) is still available as part of Ubisofts 30th anniversary celebrations but you do require a free Ubisoft account and the free uPlay client installed to get the game, which you will find <a href="https://club.ubisoft.com/en-GB/ubi30" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. You'll need over 22GB of free space to install the game. It's not the best Assassins Creed game, in fact I seem to remember many fans of the franchise were very disappointed with the game, but personally I thought it was excellent. and the community reviews over on Steam are mainly positive as well. You can read those <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/208480/#app_reviews_hash" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. Do hurry as this offer ends soon.</blockquote> <blockquote>You can get a free copy (Steam Key) of Woodle Tree Adventures (which must be redeemed withing 2 weeks) <a href="http://failmid.com/game/woodle-tree-adventures-100-discount/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. This deal ends Monday morning.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Finally, check out the Steam stores specials tab, you'll find thousands of games on sale ranging from 10% to 95% off, with 100's of games less than a dollar (£0.69p). The Steam Christmas sale Ends on the 2nd January around 6pm UK time.</blockquote>

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Reply | Comment by Whiterabbit-uk – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+17)

Whiterabbit-uk,

After reading your post yesterday I looked up Hogmanay... here's hoping that your head survived. ;)

Happy New Year!

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

Thanks Mike, we had a brilliant evening and to be honest it's been one of the most memorable for many years. I've always been careful when consuming alcohol. I can remember the first time I came home after a good friend and my cousin, both on leave from the army took me out just before my 18th birthday and got me virtually blind drunk. T hey had to carry me home and my mother plied me with orange juice. I've only been drunk less than the number of fingers on my hand and only really drunk once before while I was in the army when my pals took me out to celebrate the birth of my first daughter. I was the once who actually ended up having to help the rest of them to bed and apart from once while a student where I fell asleep against a radiator in a small student room filled with other students have never suffered a hangover because I've always ensured I drank lots of water/orange juice before I went to sleep.

Reply | Comment by mike – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

Whiterabbit-uk, Hey Wrascally Wabbit,

I haven't posted anything because I didn't want the game, already had it or I was just really, really busy. Holidays....you know.. Best wishes for you and your family this Christmas and New Year. Huggles all around.

And many thanks to GGOTD and to the Game Owners/developers/publishers for allowing us a chance to play many new and different games for free.

P.S. I actually bought some games on Steam and added a few to my Wish List. They upped our bandwidth...Can't play a lot..have to watch it..

Reply | Comment by delenn13 – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

#24

Encountered a huge glitch.

At the end of the game I went back to chapter 3 at the place that seems to be the games end point. There I received the assignment to find the pieces (souls) to finish the game. Collected all the pieces in chapter 3 and cannot get back to chapter 1 and 2 to finish collecting the pieces needed to finish the game. Therefore there is no ending.

The "HINT" button goes dark when pushed. So the game has no workaround to get to the ending.

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

Thank you for your feedback KVN

Reply | Comment by kvn – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#23

I am sorry to say, but this game has a major bug near the very end which prevented me from finishing it. When searching for the parts of the girl's soul, heading to the next area before finding all the parts in the first area will prevent a player from finishing the game, as there is no way to return.

That's what happens I guess when you don't use hints to find the next part. ;-|

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

Thank you for your feedback Mark.

Reply | Comment by Mark Van – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

#22

I downloaded and installed this one on my Win10 Intel I-3 desktop without incident. I worked my way through the various locations and challenges, sometimes having to rely on the help button, but mostly not. My problem came at the end, after losing my soul in 15 pieces. I went back over each location and was able to find pieces in 10 places (one per location), but was unable to find anything on several locations, clicking on everything on the scene, even running a "search-grid" pattern to find some kind of minor object. No luck. So, I finally resorted to the help button. It was lit and when I clicked on it, nothing happened. It seems to be deactivated at this phase of the game. And with no other technique working, I was unable to complete the game. I started over and went through everything again from scratch, thinking that I may have had a glitch in the program, but got the same result. Very frustrating when you get that far and cannot put it to bed! What more can I do, or is this an issue with the program itself? Thanks, BTW, for all of your time spent for our enjoyment.

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

Hi Bebop

I'd post the issue over in the game discussion forums HERE, where it is more likely to be seen now that the giveaway has ended.

Have a great New Year. regards Stephen

Reply | Comment by bebop – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

#21

I wonder how many of you will wind up in hell this year sharing illegal, virus-filled games to marks who don't know what you are doing. You are all really evil and I hope you all get caught soon!

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

Hello Larrys of London

You don't make it clear who you are addressing? If it is to the giveawayoftheday, then you are sadly mistaken. They gain permission from all parties involved and do pay individual developers a small retainer for allowing their games to be given away here. As for MyPlayCity, they pay all developers a percentage of the money they earn from their site. The model used earns developers more money than if they just relied on sales from the various game houses such as Big Fish games. The majority of those downloading games from here would not have purchased the game, but because they are playing it for free, they are indirectly earning the developer money via sites such as MyPlayCity. it's actually a good business model for most games that are past their sell by date (what I mean by that is any game that has been released and after the initial rush on sales is left with only a trickle of income). Same goes for those indie bundles; many of the games included earn more money for the developer by being included in a bundle than from individual sales.

That said, I do agree that those sharing or downloading illegal copies of games that developers have spent time(sometimes devoting years of their time) and money developing should be punished in some way as I personally believe all who do so are thieves. Going to hell for such practices is a little too strong for my liking though as I don't see such practices as bad as say hurting someone physically or mentally. On a side note. All of the almost 20 thousand games I have licenses for have been paid for legally. I've always believed in paying for what I get and can say I've never stolen a game since buying my first computer back in the mid 80's. I've spent well over £100 000 on games over the last 30 years (the bulk of it over the last 10 years) and don't regret one penny spent as for me they have been a good investment, especially since my accident over 11 years ago. I've always believed in supporting game developers. It would have been nice to hear your opinion of this giveaway.

I wonder how many of you will wind up in hell this year sharing illegal, virus-filled games to marks who don't know what you are doing. You are all really evil and I hope you all get caught soon!

<blockquote>...........................................Moderator comment...................................</blockquote>
<ul><blockquote>Hello Larrys of London</blockquote> 
<blockquote>You don't make it clear who you are addressing? If it is to the giveawayoftheday, then you are sadly mistaken. They gain permission from all parties involved and do pay individual developers a small retainer for allowing their games to be given away here. As for MyPlayCity, they pay all developers a percentage of the money they earn from their site. The model used earns developers more money than if they just relied on sales from the various game houses such as Big Fish games. The majority of those downloading games from here would not have purchased the game, but because they are playing it for free, they are indirectly earning the developer money via sites such as MyPlayCity. it's actually a good business model for most games that are past their sell by date (what I mean by that is any game that has been released and after the initial rush on sales is left with only a trickle of income). Same goes for those indie bundles; many of the games included earn more money for the developer by being included in a bundle than from individual sales.</blockquote>

<blockquote>That said, I do agree that those sharing or downloading illegal copies of games that developers have spent time(sometimes devoting years of their time) and money developing should be punished in some way as I personally believe all who do so are thieves. Going to hell for such practices is a little too strong for my liking though as I don't see such practices as bad as say hurting someone physically or mentally. On a side note. All of the almost 20 thousand games I have licenses for have been paid for legally. I've always believed in paying for what I get and can say I've never stolen a game since buying my first computer back in the mid 80's. I've spent well over £100 000 on games over the last 30 years (the bulk of it over the last 10 years) and don't regret one penny spent as for me they have been a good investment, especially since my accident over 11 years ago. I've always believed in supporting game developers. It would have been nice to hear your opinion of this giveaway.</blockquote></ul>

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Reply | Comment by Larrys of London – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#20

HI!
It took a long time to download and opened quickly! The graphics are good.
The story is lacking direction or something in the beginning and I seemed to jump around
with the stone statue on the stairs, hard to get back to the canon. Otherwise, its pretty simple, one
activity following another. It needs some perking up I think, but if you like hogs etc. it is good.
Happy New Year!
Lee

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

Thank you for your feedback Lee, I hope you have a n excellent 2017.

Reply | Comment by Lee C. – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#19

both yesterday and today looked like good games, which I wanted and would enjoy. DL, installed, got activation message. But when clicked on game icon, am taken to PlayCity site, but games never loaded???? Just the web page.

HP laptop, Win 7

even tried from the app down in the folder itself
Clicking Stones of Rome.exe - web page, says loading. NOTHING, not able to find Tabbing to and not on task bar

Today, same web page, looks like loading, error " X This applications requires 3D acceleration to run"

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

A little late to reply, sorry. The giveaway ended literally a minute ago. The MPC version is basically the same, tohugh you do need to make sure you've unchecked the three boxes thjat appear during installation. also, the game is installed to the Program Files (x86) folder, you don't get to choose where to install it. You can however, once installed cut and paste the whole game to a different location if you wish. check the FAQ's thread for fault finding issues.

Reply | Comment by cb – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#18

Want to wish everyone a Happy New Year !!! This game is a wonderful game and I would not change anything... I love HOG's... Thank You...

Reply | Comment by Mary – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#17

Ha - it's never good to have off on Monday when such an addicting game is given away...

Download and installation without a problem.

Good story, sharp graphics, fast gameplay and reload of hint button. We are able to choose from normal or hard modus.

Thank you very much for this gem.

2017 has to be fabulous after this awful 2016 (not for me personally but for the world in general).

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

I hope so; :)

Reply | Comment by Anu – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Just a quick update:

Once you left the place where you can change access with the sphere in the statues hand when you are collecting the soul fragments, you can't go back there - make sure you have all fragments before - I can't finish the game and read about it in the big fish forums. I will not play the game again cause I got through everything else well and have a lot of other games to finish ;-)

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

Hi Anu

Thank you for your feedback. I too have too many games still left un-played. I dare not say how many as it is embarrassing, especially when I see the state of the world and the poverty that is so prevalent these days.

By the way, if you are interested in hooking up on Steam, let me know what your Steam name is and I'll send you a friends request. Mines Whiterabbit-uk, though I get so many friends requests I tend not to check very often becasue most of those I did accept tended only to be interested in the games I had spare in my inventory or wanted to ask for Steam Trading cards (of which I have thousands), Team Fortress 2 or Counter-Strike: Global Operations items usually for free. Happy New Year

Reply | Comment by Anu – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Hi Stephen

My Steam name is anthea70 - I haven't been very active just installed the steam crate from lost month and went away.

It's true there is a lot of poverty and I tend to give here and there directly to people in need - never give to big trusts or such. I also have to make ends meet - I am partly disabled too but fortunately I have a great husband which supports me a lot.

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

Hi Anu

Thanks for your reply. Where do you live?

Reply | Comment by Anu – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#16

Hi, Stephen! Glad to hear that you had a very special New Year!

Not specifically about today's game, but about the GGAotD page for it and the latest ones before it: I was always able to save a copy of the whole page, with all your review and users' comments, but today practically no images appeared; it seems that all those linked to "s27.postimage.org" weren't being downloaded -- and, checking back, the same happened with recent ones, too. I looked at their site, and it seems they're having problems, so maybe that was what caused it; now, it seems the links have been updated to "s28.postimage.org" and "s30.postimage.org", and they're 'working' again, but saved ones with those links are not.
I waited to see if anyone else had this problem, and apparently not, so I"m in the dark, here. Any idea what's causing this, and whether older links will be working soon again? I don't think I changed any preferences in my browser (Mozilla SeaMonkey) which might have caused this (I even tried to change a few to see if they had any effect, with no success), and hope the problem will be gone -- but now I have this problem with the latest saved pages...

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

Thanks for letting me know. Didn't see any problems myself, but I didn't check back for long periods due to family being here.

Reply | Comment by alexyu – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Hi,Stephen!

I just checked again, and now all saved pages work again.
However, do take a look at the postimage.org site when you have the time, because it looks like they're in danger of having to shut down their image-hosting activities -- and, since it seems GAotD uses their services, that might have an unexpected impact...

Then again, the fact that the problem has been fixed for now may indicate they've already solved these problems, or at least have a workaround, so (specially since I imagine this isn't even part of what you have any control over) perhaps the best is to just ignore what I said ("if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"); but, if this problem reappears in the future, at least you'll have some idea of the problem's source.

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

Hi Alexyu

Again thanks for the heads up. I may have to finally go for a pro account with photobucket if postimage.org is in trouble?. When the game giveaway site finally allowed images to be posted about 6 years ago I initially used a free photobucket account, but found with the limited bandwidth, the images would disappear after a certain time depending on how many community members looked at the images. I started to use a free service after the owner of the site contacted me, but that site went down after a few years with no warnings, so I was unable to save any of the images I'd posted. Since then I've usually uploaded most of the images that I also upload to postimage.org to my photobucket accounts (of which i have several). I started to use postimage.org when the original free site disappeared. It has been improved over the last year. I do hope it continues to thrive and will consider paying for a paid for account with them, if things are okay. I do need a safe image hosting site because a Steam friend has set up a review site for me, which is on hold at the moment because I have other important issues to sort out before I can devote more time to the review site.

Hi,Stephen!

I just checked again, and now all saved pages work again.
However, do take a look at the postimage.org site when you have the time, because it looks like they're in danger of having to shut down their image-hosting activities -- and, since it seems GAotD uses their services, that might have an unexpected impact...

Then again, the fact that the problem has been fixed for now may indicate they've already solved these problems, or at least have a workaround, so (specially since I imagine this isn't even part of what you have any control over) perhaps the best is to just ignore what I said ("if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"); but, if this problem reappears in the future, at least you'll have some idea of the problem's source.

<blockquote>...........................................Moderator comment...................................</blockquote>
<ul><blockquote>Hi Alexyu</blockquote> 
<blockquote>Again thanks for the heads up. I may have to finally go for a pro account with photobucket if postimage.org is in trouble?. When the game giveaway site finally allowed images to be posted about 6 years ago I initially used a free photobucket account, but found with the limited bandwidth, the images would disappear after a certain time depending on how many community members looked at the images. I started to use a free service after the owner of the site contacted me, but that site went down after a few years with no warnings, so I was unable to save any of the images I'd posted. Since then I've usually uploaded most of the images that I also upload to postimage.org to my photobucket accounts (of which i have several). I started to use postimage.org when the original free site disappeared. It has been improved over the last year. I do hope it continues to thrive and will consider paying for a paid for account with them, if things are okay. I do need a safe image hosting site because a Steam friend has set up a review site for me, which is on hold at the moment because I have other important issues to sort out before I can devote more time to the review site.</blockquote></ul>

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Reply | Comment by alexyu – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

Hi, WR!

Glad that the comment was useful for you besides just for this game. I also became aware that the 'save page' doesn't actually save everything: Some of the contents rely on links which may or may not be alive in the future -- and the only alternative I see is printing out the page, which doesn't actually solve the problem.

Doesn't GAotD have an 'image repository' on the servers they use? "When the game giveaway site finally allowed images to be posted about 6 years ago" implies that you had to do it yourself, which doesn't sound right...

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

Hi Alexyu

The site has always used WordPress, but they hadn't added an app to enable posting of images until around 2010. I've never thought to ask about uploading images directly to the giveaway site becasue I was already using Photobucket to upload images of in game captures as I used to do a lot of beta testing for game modders and developers.

Have a successful 2017

Reply | Comment by alexyu – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#15

I am having trouble finding the game after unzipping it and going through setup. The ZIP file is in my downloads folder but I do not know where the actual game goes?

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

Hi Carrie, I've posted the location in my review. There is a faint possibility however that your security may have blocked the install becasue you should have seen four shortcuts installed to your desk top. TheMPC version is basically the same game apart from the checkboxes. so long as you uncheck the boxes you will get the same game.

Reply | Comment by Carrie A – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#14

Happy New Year, Mike! Thanks for all your hard work getting these games to us. Today's offering is a good one, but unfortunately there is a documented and unpatched glitch (see Big Fish Game forum for workaround) at the end of the game (collecting souls) that can block you from finishing. Still, was fun while it lasted. Decent graphics/gameplay for an older game, too bad about the glitch!

Reply | Comment by Lady Lark – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)

#13

Why do MPC games still install desktop icons even though I uncheck the box to add them? Why bother to ask if they are instaled anyway? I know they can be safely deleted but I think it says a lot about the publisher.

Reply | Comment by Brenda – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

#12

At first Happy New Year to all and especially WR :)
Thanks for another nice game.
What stands out are the very nice graphics and also how quick the game is loaded!
I have to admit that first time ever I had to use the walk through.
At a certain moment there were three clocks and only 2 notes with the time, the hint button kept sending me to the clocks and not to the missing note, found the 3rd note now :D
But in all worth downloading.

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

Hi Irene

Thank you for your feedback, have a great year. :)

Reply | Comment by irene – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#11

I tried 3 different browsers (chrome, edge & opera) downloaded and extracted OK but when run Setup.exe shows file corrupt

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

Hi Andrew,

It's probably your security that is blocking the installation. My Zemana Antimalware suite stopped the installation, so had to turn it off temporarily. Probably due either to the Themida coding that is used to protect the executable (due to hackers) or due to the disabled adware that MPC use.

Reply | Comment by Andrew MacLeod – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

Andrew MacLeod , I had disabled my Kaspersky when the first install failed it made no difference. I am running Win 10 anniversery build if that helps.

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

Hi Andrew, check to see if you have any other security in the background. Several months ago I wasn't able to install anything and went as far as phoning windows helpline and they found i was running other security )that I'd installed via the giveaway. and had forgotten about it. It may also be other conflicts. check your event logs after trying to install

Reply | Comment by Andrew MacLeod – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

Andrew MacLeod , No the only other security software on the machine is Windows Defender which you no matter how many times you think you have killed it in 10 it just wont die

Reply | Comment by Andrew MacLeod – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#10

I like H.O.G.s but have not download this one, reluctantly, as it is just too dark
& I know I could not see it.

Reply | Comment by Bee – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)

#9

another fabulous game Thanks to everyone
Happy 2017
I have decided, this is going to be a Ridiculously Fabulous Year!!

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

I agree almost totally, though Brexit worry's me a little as I am a Europhile

Reply | Comment by thanks but no – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#8

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017
I just wanted to say what better way to start the year than with an hidden object game. I love them. Thank you for a year of excellent downloads!

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

:)

Reply | Comment by Lynne FitzGerald – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

#7

My favourite! I love Hidden Object Games. I downloaded and installed it easily but at one point (after getting the magic book from the bookseller) I went into the street and clicked on the building to the left (the apartment?) and the game crashed. When I returned the "You have found a book" appeared. I guess I moved too quickly? Anyway, it's working again.

Thanks so much for the site. Although I'm not fond every game I do find here, most of them are worth the effort. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2017.

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

:)

Reply | Comment by A Hogan – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

#6

Thank you Giveaway of the Day and MyPlayCity.. I really enjoy HOG's. Good way to pass a little time on this first day of the new year. Hope everyone is blessed this new year. Once again, thank you for sharing these games with us.

Reply | Comment by emmy – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

#5

HAPPY New Year WR!! THANKS for all of your efforts in 2016! Same 404 error when trying to load anything the past several weeks. Yes I know I can download it directly but wanted to let you know the error continues. Hope everyone has a healthy and prosperous New Year.

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

Hi Laura

It's most likely your security that is blocking the site. also check your router/modem security. Have a fantastic 2017

Reply | Comment by Laura – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

Laura,

In case it helps at all... Many sites have a 404 page saying something like: "Oops - we can't find that page", & that's pretty much exactly what's happened.

To add just a little bit to the mod's comment, re: router/modem security, there are DNS servers that do the actual routing part, so that when you type game[.]giveawayoftheday[.]com in the address bar of your browser for example, the correct page opens. Criminals have their own DNS servers, which route you to web pages/sites that they control. They then use attacks or exploits to compromise your router or modem, so that it uses their DNS server rather than the one it's supposed to. IF that's what's going on, then it's more important for you to find out & fix things. For more info maybe Google on "router exploit" [w/out quotes].

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

Thanks for the extra feedback Mike as always very much appreciated. Happy New Year.

Reply | Comment by mike – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)

#4

Very nice game! ;-)

Could do without the attempts to download browser apps and adding three icons to your desktop... for more games that want you to install more browser apps. Also does this each time the game is shut down.

The game itself is wonderful and I understand the need to advertise. Not so intrusive are the ads when starting the game but is opening a browser window to MyPlayCity every time you stop the game really necessary?

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

Hi Qwertybird, whenever you play the game, the developer and MPC earn cash because of the browser being opened. If your browser wasn't opened, they wouldn't earn enough cash for them to pay the developer to allow them to give the game away or operate their site, and eventually such sites would cease to exist. All the games, or at least most of the games are still being sold elsewhere. MPC have purchased the rights to some games, but most still belong to the various developers who allow their creations to be downloaded for free. They probably earn more from revenue from such sites than their actual sales, especially years after their original release.

Reply | Comment by Qwertybird – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)

Again, I understand the need for advertising but if it does this even with the paid version, I will definitely not be buying it. ;-)

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

Hi Qwertybird

I have thousands paid for games (almost 10 000 in my Steam account alone) and have never come across in game or load up advertising apart from some AAA games sold by EA games where they advertised their next game during load up for example, whjen they first added DRM to their games they advertised their next game in Battlefield 2042 back in 2007 and I think a couple of Ubisoft games, usually via their game clients. With respect to arcade games I've never seen any advertising ever.

Reply | Comment by Qwertybird – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#3

happy new year to you all,and thank you for another great game,it downloaded well and a hidden object game is Always a pleasure to play

Reply | Comment by grootviske – 7 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

#2

Happy New Year to you and to everyone.
Thanks again for all the games you give to us this year.
And for me, thanks for all the hidden objects games you make me discover.