The wife is playing this now and has told me several times how much she enjoys it. As in, she REALLY likes it.

Thanks a million GGOTD!

I'm downloading today's HOG offering right now too! I always hate it when I miss a goodie here, even though I try to check every day.

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:) Glad she like it. As someone else said earlier, if she likes The Gift, she'll also like this one.

Was a fun game with about the right amount of difficulty, if you are willing to use the hint button a few times. Kept the story at at level to keep pace with the play. The plot was neither too detailed nor too superficial. I would look for more games by this company. It does suffer from the same annoying issue as most games, can't relocate the game window to the second (larger) monitor on a two monitor system. Game either has to be on the laptop screen, or both (via cloned displays). Thank you.

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

Hi Bobby, There's a program called Driver fusin that may solve that problem; it enables you to swap your monitors:

http://www.displayfusion.com/Download/

Oh, I don't know number 3; I played "Eternal Journey" by Alawar and found it to be a very good game with a very good story. A bit weird, but all around a good game.

This one is not quite as good as "Eternal Journey", a lot weirder, but over all not a bad game. I was wishing it had the maps and help guides that "Eternal Journey" had. Too much dialog, and too much back and forth, but not a bad game.

Although when everything is said and done Sarah is not really able to accomplish any the main goals she started out with; clear her name and bring a killer to justice.

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Thank you for your feedback Jon. :)

thanks for your reply BUT the game is completely GONE from my system. No trace or folder found; never had this happen before. hope you put this in as a freebie again really soon

I wish there was two types of hints - the one that there is now, plus one that would basically tell you if you're in the right room for the next bit of the puzzle.

I try to get that a little bit with the current hint setup - I'll use it only when outside, or in a hallway. But even then, sometimes it tells me exactly the next thing to do, because I don't back out far enough. For example, when in the alley behind the newspaper - I would have just liked to know I was in the right place, rather than the 'feather on the dumpster'.

Dave.

It would be so much better if there was a walkthrough or if at least the game made it clearer what you're supposed to do. I'm stuck at the puzzle where there is a set of scales and some weights with no idea what I'm supposed to do. Nothing happens when you click on the weights. The game just asks "what am I making?" The journal offers no clues as to what to do.

While this game is fun and engaging with a good plot and voice acting, the clock puzzle early on is nearly impossible to do even if you know the solution (setting the hands at 10:15). Apparently you also need to know the exact pixels, which don't actually happen to be the visually correct alignment of the clock hands at 10:15. I've spent 20 minutes trying to get the placement right for both hands, clicking one pixel to the left or right at a time, and this is in no ways fun or entertaining.

It's a known issue posted on game forums, and it's made this game unplayable for me. If you legitimately know the solution for a puzzle but still can't solve it without endlessly experimenting with the tiniest of alignment changes, it's about as much fun as having to figure out a random four digit combination with zero logical clues in the game in order to advance.


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

Thank you for your feedback Tanith

downloaded the game yesterday and altho. it too a while it worked !
but today, my icon (which I had to manually put on the desktop) is blank and says that the game has been MOVED? anyone else have this problem? how can I play it now?

HELP, please

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

Hi Laraine, sorry for the late reply, after travelling back from my vacation, slept all of yesterday andf most of today. Only just seen your comment. Check to see where you installed the game and create a new shortcut. Most game giveaways are the same. Only Playrix games uually place a shortcut on the desktop.

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Considering the size of this game (quite large for an arcade game), there were 9409 downloads.

Yesterdays game faired slightly better at 10100 downloads.


See you all next week; reporting from Spain (last day) :)

I downloaded it easily and started with no problems. Enjoyed the intro and great graphics. Have played over an hour and only one or two minor glitches. Playing the easy mode right now.

Thanks for another great game!


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Nice one! :D

I'd say that game hints are not always conclusive. As so far I had a great problem with TV set (hint points to the dead body). Surely I had to cut his hair, and the problem has been reported by other users. Any way, pointing to TV set would be much more useful as if you solve this item you have a hint pointing directly to the body.

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Thanks for the feedback Vladimir :)

Thanks for your help with my download issue. I didn't need to resort to the download managers you suggested, as on my 5th try the zip file downloaded in its entirety, and I was able to install the game.

Thank you - I'm enjoying it very much, a really good offer from you and Alawar / Big Fish. (I think that Big Fish are kind of like Alawar's 'agents').


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Glad you sorted it. :)

Tried to download and install this 4 different times, each time in winrar, winzip or even the windows extractor it indicated that it was corrupted and wouldn't install the game. tried deleting it and downloading it again, same problem, 4 times. even tried downloading it with getright thinking that it may be a problem with my connection. no luck. it looks like a really interesting game and I'm sure my wife and kids would enjoy it, so its a shamenternet I'm using via the hotel i'm staying in. I couldn't get this working on either my laptop or the family's desktop.


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Sorry to hear you had problems Robert. Especially as today's game seems to have been very popular. We always seem to have problems with the larger downloads. I also wasn't able to get this game, but that was due to restrictions placed on the internet by the hotel I'm staying at. :(

As to the problem installing on Windows 8.1, updating the graphics drivers seems to have solved the problem. Thanks so much!


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Excellent news! :D

My kind of game! Loving it so far! Donwloaded and installed fine. Thanks !!

After a download that took hours (yes, my old computer is pretty slow, but has never been anywhere near this bad before), I can't finish the process. I click on setup and it won't go any further. A shame because I love HOGS and I've never had a problem with Alawar games before. With only about 4 hours left, there isn't time to try again. Better luck next time but thanks anyway GAOTD and Alawar.

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Hi Angel,
It's not the age of the computer that dictates the speed of the download, but your internet connection. The greater the bandwidth you have, the faster the download speed. There are fewer community members downloading at this time, so the download speeds should have improved. That coupled with the use of a download manager (see comment 25 to Zenwan, above for my answer to a previous posters query, where I link to some free download managers), may help to get this game before the giveaway ends.

So long as you have started the download, the actual registration of the game is usually extended at least an hour after the giveaway is ended, (and may be even longer due to the size of the download); so it's worth trying again.

If you like HOG's I'd say go for it.

Hi, downloaded this Game as soon as I saw it early afternoon, made sure is working, but only had a chance to get into it much, much later. Love it so far!!:) I didn't know this Game, but it feels I'm going to spend some time solving this mystery.., well, having to pace myself not wanting to do 'too much too soon', lol. Seems it might go this way for a simple reason that even with 'easy' option chosen - is hard enough as it is, truly! I'm only in a Motel, walking through it with much more confidence than when I first arrived on the street and couldn't even figure out how to get these Files from a car.., yes, getting annoyed and thinking this is a hard (or stupid?) cookie, even thou I played many Games like this one before..

Have to admit, went on Google to look for some 'walkthrough', but found only something on uTube, which served 2 purposes: Learned how to open that darn door (sorry I did try to use the same 'tool', but wasn't persistent enough, ha ha), and secondly - from now on to use my own loaf and not to cheat any more:) For Those who (by any chance) start this Game the same way as me that link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXiv2lRfBd4 ----- I promise you, watching someone else crawling through the Game and explaining in highly monotonous voice 'how they did it' - is not my cup of tea, but it Helped!:) I could not find any other 'regular' walkthrough for this specific Game anywhere. There is also this link: http://forums.bigfishgames.com/forums/show/3097.page --- for some other (faint) clues and discussions, sometimes needed in some harder Games. Feel free if you must.

But enough. It's an interesting Game, lovely graphics, and even if at the end of playing it I'll be wondering what was 'all that about', lol (yes, I did read some Reviews) - I'm sure I will have much fun ahead. Thanks for presenting it here Stephen and Alawar for giving it away. Night All.

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

Thank you for your feedback Fran, much appreciated. :D

*Very* cool game! Well done!!

Program downloaded and installed o.k. The game plays smoothly with good audio. The problem I have is, no text is appearing in any of the buttons, both in the game and the options menu. Is it a font problem?

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

Hi Allen, try compatibility mode. Change the graphics settings, or the OS (in compatibility). Failing that, you may need to update your graphics drivers or Direct X.

For #18 Erik:

Google "oalinst" and download it from a site you trust.
It's discontinued by Creative Labs (Soundblaster) and no longer available from them.

It comes with some games and many people probably have it installed as a result of that.

If you can't find a download site you trust, google "openbve homepage" (openbve is a freeware train simulator), click through to its homepage, and click "installation instructions". Theres a good link to oalinst.exe on that page.

Hope this helps
John


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

Thanks for the info John, may ad this info to the FAQ's :D

The only issue I had with this game was clipping the hair from the dead man in the hotel. Just felt creepy doing that but other than that I enjoyed the game. Played in expert mode with out the sparkle hints. The dark colored graphics did not bother me it just made the game more challenging. The story was immersing along with the game play.


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:)

Downloaded in around 30 minutes - installed without problem on Win 8 - played until the shop without problems - thanks a lot for this game.

The one from yesterday I like too - especially the storyline.

Same problem as Ted above. Does this game not work on Windows 8.1? I was so happy to get this one since I missed the last one.



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

It appears to work on Win 8.1, try updating your graphics drivers and direct X; also consider compatibility mode and playing as Administrator. I hope you get it working.

Some annoyance... I was unable to stop the game trough well known "esc" button. Win XP x64.

Wasn't sure I dig this since half interest in earlier ones. The sprinkle concept won me over! In other games like this it is a pain to know the soiution but to be just an inch or so from 'correct' point to click upon. Highlighted sprinkle shows it. This option can be toggled within the Expert mode. Don't think using that impacts speed of Hint circle. Maybe it does make Hint refill faster tho which effectively switches to Casual mode (fast Hint & Sparkles at start).
Nice graphics especially for fans of noir mystery films from 40s into mid 50s and later ones like Chinatown, LA Confidential, etc.
Real keeper, thanks so much!



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:)

Quick, and probably silly, question. The game is Alawar. It starts out with the "new" Alawar splash screen. Why is the homepage listed for the game, BigFishGames? No where does the game say Big Fish.

I've noted that before with the newer Alawar install of the self-extracting zip/rar (whatever) instead of a true install with shortcut and uninstall.

Why?

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Don't know? Both are listed in the admin panel.

Nicely done game. Enjoying it so far.

I LOVE hidden object games and will be playing this one excessively. Thanks GGOTTD and Alawar Entertainment!
Also never got the chance to say thanks GGOTD for yesterdays game, the sequel to the previous 2 we got! So belated thanks!

The Gift is a fantastic game. It's really atmospheric, and immerses you in a moody, noir environment. The artwork is superb, the music is subtle and perfectly chosen, and the voice acting is unusually good. There's a nice balance between the storytelling, puzzles and hidden object elements. Thanks very much for this wonderful, high quality Gift! It's my favourite giveaway this year.

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Glad you like it Julia. :)

Can not get it to install in Windows 8.1...click on setup...opens asks to make changes....click on yes...than nothing????

This works very well so far. No complain. I always like this kind of games: mysteries, puzzles, finding objects. Thank you very much, Giveaway of the Day!

Downloaded in 18 minutes. Installed with no problems on Win7 Home Premium. I've been playing it for the last hour and with the exception of the music, have enjoyed it very much. Definitely will be keeping it on my machine to replay in the future.

Thanks GGOTD!

Really happy to have this one. Thank You. No problem downloading or installing on WIN 7 64Bit laptop. Unzipped and ran fine also. Very nice game, nice noir and I thank you and Alawar for providing this. Took 4 minutes to download, not bad considering I was doing other things, listening to an audiobook, pinning, reading emails, etc., in the background.

Ila in Maine

Thanks for an interesting looking game. I'm still struggling with the download, have tried 4 times so far, but the zip file never gets larger than about 350mb, although it shows as 'finished' i.e. the 'part' file goes away. Then I get a zip file error 'unexpected end of archive' and can't install. Have tried leaving that file to see if it keeps going, and installing to a different directory, but it stops each time at the same place / size.

Any thoughts?

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All I can suggest is try one of those free download managers. that way, you can restart the download if it gets interrupted. worth a try.

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

or

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-download-manager.htm

You can always delete the manager once you've got the game installed. :)

Re; The Gift game. Do you know why Vista does not allow me to open some games from Game giveaway? I have tried on many games and no go. And then on some no problem. I am sure it is something with
Vista as I can put it on my windows with no problems. Any suggestions? Thanks

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

Right click on the games executable or the shortcut and select run as Administrator. also try compatibility mode 9right click on the exe file or the shortcut and select Properties, then click on the compatibility tab. Try various settings and different operating systems to see if the game works okay.

Just an FYI that may help someone else. When I tried to extract the file, I got a "CRC error". I researched that a bit but decided that since it was such a large file perhaps something went wrong in the download so I thought I'd try deleting it and downloading again. Not sure what happened the first time but the second time the error was gone and it worked like a charm.

I haven't had the time to play yet but went into the game to check the options and such and briefly look around. Visually, the game looks beautiful. I am looking forward to playing.

Thank you Alawar, Whiterabbit-uk and the entire team here.

I downloaded the Visual C ++ and the gcd file is still empty- or at least I can't open it. This happened yesterday too. What am I missing? Thank you!

One of my favorite genres. Really enjoying this one so far. Great little game although I did change my gamma to be a little brighter. Great story & love the voices. Thanks Alawar Entertainment & GGOTD!

No problem downloading it on Win 7 64-bit. I've played the first part (i.e. the motel) and have a few observations (I've set my player up in the more difficult of the two modes).

It's so far certainly quite dark, both in mood and in graphics. This doesn't bother me, but could be a bit trying for some people. The music has been very repetitive - certainly atmospheric and creepy, but it would have been nice to have a bit of variety. Voice acting is so-so, but I don't play games for the quality of the voices! I like very much the way it doesn't hold my hand: instead, I have to work out for myself what to do. Having said that, I nearly went spare trying to figure out how to place the items for the ritual! The story-line is very intriguing and if it were a book I would find it difficult to put down. I got a bit confused at the apparent references to a character who hadn't really been introduced, but worked it out in the end. Coming back to the storyline, in this first part I eventually realised that I should have gone back to "my partner" Jack each time I discovered something - I wasted rather a lot of time looking for things that weren't there, when all I should have done was show him everything I'd already found.

So I'm very much looking forward to continuing with the game as it's quite challenging, but I don't think it's anything like as polished as some other Adventure/HOGs that I've played. Good fun, though, and thanks as ever to GOTD for making it available.

Stephen - enjoy the rest of your holiday and safe journey home!


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Thank you for your feedback Margaret. :)

Program doesn't start because OpenAL32.dll is missing on my computer. What to do now?
Tried to install again. Same problem.

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Sorry Erik, missed your post till now. John, comment number 39 below may have found a solution; or you could try downloading the missing dll and copying it to the games directory. I that doesn't work, try putting it in System 32 folder (found in the windows folder.

Downloaded in about 30 minutes, on Windows 7, 64 bit. No problems at all. I have dome this before with making my own shortcut so everything went smoothly. I started playing it already, and you can tell that it's one of those games that will take a few days to play, unless you can sit for hours playing it. Unlike others, I have no complaints about the dark grim scenes. I have seen them many times before in HOG games. Also like the setting with the 1940ish car that the heroine is driving. Had to stop and take a break from the game, but will go back to it later in the day. Would like to see much more HOG games and a lot less of the Match 3 type.

please help me. i have never had a problem downloading any game off this site (and believe me i have downloaded a lot) I get this error message after it has been downloaded and I go to open it to unzip it:

the compressed(zipped) folder 'c:\users\user\downloads\thegift.zip' is invalid

I tried deleting it and downloading it again in hopes that it just didn't download smoothly.


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

Hi Lori, check the FAQ's thread over in the game discussion forums (It's in the sticky section). There's some suggestions on this issue. Try clearing out your internet cache, make sure your security allows the installation and maybe try rebooting your modem/router, also try using a different file archiver to unpack the zip file. If all that fails, try re-downloading it.

Yay! I played all the way through "Murder in New York" a couple years ago. It was the first HOG that I liked. This one looks very similar! I am going to download it right this second! Well, not quite that second but as soon as I finish this comment.

It ain't golf, but still....

The game took less than 5 minutes to download with superfast broadband and installed with no problems on my Windows 7 64 bit PC. I haven't had time to play it yet but did launch the game to make sure it loaded with no issues. Beware of the file size if you don't have unlimited downloads as part of your broadband contract - its almost 600MB. Thanks to Alawar and Game Giveaway of the Day for another great giveaway ;o)

As soon as I saw the note yesterday that today's game was going to be a BIG download, I suspected a HOG (WR - your description says its a Match 3 at first and then describes a HOG. I think you have a typo there).

After a quick check of my own library of games (over 300 HOGs), I downloaded it. Fortunately, I have a fast connection so it only took a few minutes to download. I don't know how long -- I kicked it off and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Install was a simple extraction and since my last extraction of this type was to my Alawar games folder, it was all set. These are cleaner than "normal" Alawar installs in that they leave the registry alone. As an extraction, there isn't even an uninstall!

The game is like many newer HOGs as a mix of HOG and Adventure and it's not always clear what to do next. The hint (which refills) comes in handy often in games of this type (at least for me).

I only went as far as the character entering the motel to be sure the game worked. No problems at all on my Windows 7 64 bit SP1.

I'll keep it! Now up to 982 games, and growing, installed on my computer!

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Thank you for your feedback Diane. Yes it was a typo
:)

DOWNLOADED WITH NO PROBLEM, WENT TO SETUP AND CLICKED ON IT, MESSAGE COMES UP "FAILED TO CONNECT" SO I CANNOT GET THE GAME TO REGISTER

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

Hi Rose. Typing in capitals is considered rude when writing on forums etc. (Just letting you know). Have you checked the FAQ's over in the sticky section of the game discussion forums? There's some solutions to your problem there.

No problem downloading here at about 6:30 AM Central Daylight Time - took less than two minutes to get the entire file. Of course, I live in Kansas City and have Google Fiber. ;-)

I might grade higher if the game had been pretty. Urban decay settings and psychiatric hospitals make grim viewing - add a serial killer storyline and it all looks like I have done it before.
It is not bad, but those ugly greens put me in a bad mood. The game sprawls a bit, and there is quite a bit of backtracking.
Still, it is a reasonably decent game.


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Thank you for your feedback Lidl1.

Sounds like you had a very productive vacation, Rabbit! No wonder you're looking forward to going home.

I'm not really getting in to this game. Spooky and weird and noir don't do it for me. Seems like I have/had a bunch of games like this one from one of the Gamezebo or Paddle bundles last year, and I didn't bother keeping any of them. I couldn't find any reviews, either, and the only walkthroughs were video. I do like the fact that it's not timed, and that you have the option of 2 difficulty modes, with hints recharging faster in the easier mode.

Download was slow: took over an hour for me, but I don't seem to have any bandwidth restrictions, so I just wander off and do something else during long downloads. Installed and ran fine on my XP SP3 system.

Thanks for letting me try it for free. Now I'm going back to my 3 Season Match games, and Big Kahuna Reef 3. And my all-time favorite Treasures of Montezuma.


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

Thank you for your feedback Delilah, much appreciated. Treasures of Montezuma is also my favorite. no other match three has equaled it's game play for me. Also loved the first two Big Kahuna reef games. didn't realize there was a third. Thanks for your well wishes.

Always check steam games when buying from another country thou, as some are region locked and are not redeemable on a UK steam account.


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I always do, after buying one from a friend from Eastern Europe. Thankfully he repaid me.