Few match3 games that I've liked. If ever get Kit and Ellis back will download it, also like around the world in 80 days. For the most part, liked the game but also disappointed. On the Atlantis game was expecting to see a bit of what the city and not just an island. In this game, would like to have seen a different set of puzzle for the last part. Maybe a paint by number (black in squares to come up with a picture), a block puzzle, or something else that would bring the labors into the game more. Some cut scenes would also be nice.

I'm a gaming veteran of a little over 35 years so what I'm about to share should go directly to the developers and other teams on other projects with PLAYRIX. I actually was starting to enjoy this title but for two very annoying, and detracting problems that can be easily corrected and not repeated in any of your other games. The first is the irritating splash advertisement on this particular game with two ads on the title game page. I hope they aren't on "paid" programs and not the free giveaway version. Because that would be understandable. The second and my reason for uninstalling it was the game crashing "hint" that continues to pop up with the two flashing squares, and the oscillating golden-ring reminder of where I'm supposed to move next. And let's not forget the audible "DING" if I hadn't seen the previous hint too! That's with the hints turned OFF in the options menu, mind you. Seriously? That just breaks a person's complete concentration, and angered me to the point of total frustration. This is nothing but constructive criticism because someone needs to point this out. Thanks for taking the time to read.

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

Thank you for your constructive critisism, which is always welcome here.

Very enjoyable, thank you! Just like Atlantis with a new story line and items. Same play, sounds and quality. I have enjoyed Atlantis for many replays and know I will enjoy this as well. Not a very difficult game but pleasant and more than one level is difficult enough to require a replay to finish in time. Appreciate all that you do here.

A day late with my comment, but THANKS for another great game! I really do enjoy the little changes made to a classic match3. And I'm enjoying the story on this one much more than most (I usually stop reading after a while and just skip to the game, but I'm reading this one)!

Sounds like you're having the same problem originally had when exiting out of the game, also on Windows 7 HP. Found that I had to make sure my Comodo antivirus program trusted the files for the game, and then everything worked fine.

I solved my problem! Behind the game, where I couldn't see it happening, my Comodo antivirus program had been asking whether to trust this game's files. Once I finally saw that message, and got Comodo to trust those files, everything started working properly. Now it opens and exits properly, even from the full screen mode. So happy, as I can see myself spending a lot of time playing this great game! It has fabulous graphics and interesting facts throughout, with the added bonus of nice screensavers.

And thanks so much to you, Whiterabbit, for all your great explanations of the games, and spending time trying to help all of us that have may have problems.

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Thanks for your kind comment blusie. It's such comments that make doing what i do worthwhile. :)

I disabled Avast but it still doesn't work.

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

Did you check the event logs over the period you were trying to get the game to work? If there were any conflicts they should be evident in those logs. The logs contain a lot of information because everything that happens on your computer is recorded there. If you've been doing other stuff on your computer over the time you were trying to get the game to work, you may have a lot to sift through. Everything is time stamped, so if you remember the time you were working on the game, it should be easier to find. Hope this helps. If not, you could always try the gametop version that I linked to in my review.

With respect to downloading games from those freegame sites (see my review for links to each of the four I generally quote), So long as you uncheck the tick boxes during installation, the only think that will happen apart from getting a free game is that when you close the game down, it will open your browser to gametopshome page; (or the others if you download a game from their sites). This is quite innocuous, and more of an annoyance, but, one click of your mouse and its gone with no ill effects on your computer. Gametop were the first free game site I ever downloaded from and I got many hours of pleasure from the games I downloaded from them. These free game sites are notorious for changing the way they get you to install toolbars, sometimes it may be during installation, then it may change to totally free of toolbars, then another time you may find that you have to uncheck boxes at every boot up of the game. But only if you have to re download the games; also remeber they try to change your home page and even your provider via these check boxes, so, if you do decide to use their services, be sure to check all stages of installation and uncheck everything. :)

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


Please forgive my very late moderation. Things cropped up during the afternoon (building related), and since arriving back I've basically been half asleep or otherwise distracted. It's just after 4am, so I need to go to bed. I will endevour to answer any questions related to those of you who are having problems running the game in the morning. So long as you have the game installed, you should hopefully be able to sort the problems post giveaway. Generally the FAQ's I've posted (and linked to in my review) should answer most questions posed here.

Often the problem lies with the security software you are using. Avira seems to be affecting todays giveaway. Let me assure those of you who are having problems and are running Avira, or maybe other security software that may be conflicting with todays program, that the game is malware free. As mentioned countless times over the last several years, the game giveaway team have maintained a malware free site since its inception back in December 2006. I just tried to install todays game on an older computer which has an antilogger (Zemana) installed and the game was blocked from installing. I temporarily disabled the program and was then able to install the game.

If it's not the malware suite you are using, it could possibly be a conflict with something you are running behind the scenes. Check the event logs to see if there are any useful messages that could indicate a conflict, or other problem that is preventing the problem. (To access the event logs type Event Viewer in the search field)


I hope the above advice is sufficient to fix most community members problems.

Good night.


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p.s. You can access the FAQ's thread HERE


p.p.s. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post feedback. It's much appreciated.

Game downloaded easily on Win7. Played a few levels so far. This game has awesome graphics and background music. I like match 3's and the hidden object is a bonus. I like this game better than Call of Atlantis.

Hi,
Downloaded quickly on 8.1 and launched without a problem. The game ran very smoothly with good graphics
and easy play. It is similar to the other games like this, and a very good game. Did first section
very quickly! Enjoy!
Lee

Another great game! Thank you GGOTD!! Match 3 + Hidden Objects. LOVE IT!

I've never had a problem with any of the Playrix games, until now. I really like this type of game, and it installed and plays fine for me. However, when I try to exit out of full screen mode, it goes to a black screen that I can't get out of without forcing a reboot of my laptop. My laptop is only about a year old, running Windows 7 Home Premium, and everything is up to date on it. I've tried a number of times to start up the game and exit out, but I keep having this problem. I found the problem is only when exiting out of full screen mode, and I can exit fine from the game when it is in windowed mode. It plays similar to the Call of Atlantis game, which I also received from this site, and I can exit just fine from that game, so it's strange that I have this problem exiting out of this new game.

Thanks for all the great games I've gotten from this site!

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


Hi Blusie, have you checked the fAQ's thread over in the game discussion stickies? You may get some answers. I've linked to it in my review above. It may be something to do with the screen resolution, or maybe your graphics drivers are not up to date???

White Wabbit, thank you so much for all the effort you put into reviewing games and helping people with problems. I've been getting games and software from GOTD for several years, so I know you've been at it a long time.

I D/Led this game from gametop so I wouldn't lose it if my computer crashed. That happened to me about a year ago, and I don't want to go through that mess again for a long time. Even with backups, it took forever to get my system--and some of my games--back after I got a new computer. The plus is that gametop didn't try to install a bunch of junk like it usually does.

I LOVE match 3 games, and I especially like this one for 2 reasons: 1) It has a relaxed mode, which I prefer. I don't play to win, just to relax. 2) I can press ENTER for every "OK," instead of clicking so much, which really helps my arthritis. I wish more games had that feature. As a senior with eyesight that's getting poorer all the time, I'm glad to have the easy hidden object puzzles in this game, too.

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

Thanks Laurie :)

Rabbit, a heads up..you have two spyware links in your comments on steam, reported the offenders maybe you can report them as well



..................................Moderatpr Comment..................................


Hi NoName,. Thanks. Already reported about 10 the other day, before deleting them. Got caught out the first time I received one. Clicked on the link, thinking it was from a trusted friend, only to discover the link had then been posted to all of my friends(at the tie I had over 700 frieds on my Steam account). Took me over 3 hours to send out warnings to everyone.

Tried to install on my surface, but would not allow. :( help if you can , Thank you.


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

Hi Michelle, please check the FAQ's section HERE

As usual, no problems installing or running. No complaints from Avira here; though I have a "temp" folder in my downloads folder from which I install games, and this is on Avira's ignore list (downloads are scanned before being moved there, and I've never had Avira or Malwarebytes trigger on anything from this site).

My first thought on today's download was, "ho-hum, another match three game"; but aren't they all just variations on a theme, there's only so much you can do with the basic premise. But this game is fun, and that's all we require from a game. The HOG sections here aren't my favorite type, instead of seeking objects you seek broken pieces of objects well camouflaged in the scene; by the time you are down to the last couple of items you are randomly clicking on anything remotely resembling what you seek, which eventually triggers the pop-up reminding you to use the hints (which I rarely use). I do like that there is a casual mode so you aren't enslaved by a timer unless you wish to be.

I tryed to to temporarily disable my antivirus software and still Failed to launch program it says it is activated but never launches the install any help pleas

I use AVG antivirus & I'm also getting the "Failed to launch the program" error, even after disabling AVG. Tried turning off Windows firewall, too, but I still get the error. What now? I've never had any issues with Playrix programs in the past.

Installed and runs well on my Windows 8.1 system. It took me a few minutes to get it installed because it's been a while since I last installed anything the 'old' way. ;)

Yes.. this game is very similar to the Rise of Atlantis and Call of Atlantis games (which I still play from time to time). If you like match 3s and the Atlantis series in particular, you will enjoy Path of Hercules. :)

Thanks Playrix for your support of this project. I have always enjoyed your games. :lol:

If this is even a fairly recent game, am wondering why it is designed for one of the old (you can hardly find them in stores any more) 4:3 monitors?
Nearly half the game field is just wasted space - large bars on either side, with nothing but a "decoration" on them.
I found a way to get rid of them, by changing the 1920x1080 resolution to 1260x1024. That stretches the picture to fill the screen, but then the image is all fuzzy.
In any event, no good, even for fee. Nobody ever seems to notice or comment on this. Guess nobody cares.

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

Strange, I had no problems with this on any of the computers in the house. Most of the monitors are relatively new, with the oldest being 5 years old, but most (4 monitors) less than 2 years old.

For those of us using Avira; you do not need to uninstall and re-download,just click on ok when you get the failed to launch then leave the folder open go down and open avira and untick realtime protection then go back and run the gold key after it installs you can re-open avira hope this helps.

I like this game. The game was easily installed on my Win 7 32 system and runs perfectly. The game is bright and colorful and visually appealing. The music and sound effects can be adjusted to tolerable levels. The match 3 and hidden object parts of the game are about as good as match 3 and HOG can be. The game provides a pleasant animated screen saver which plays bird call, rainfall, and running water sounds loudly enough to remind that I've left the computer running. One earns additional backgrounds for the screensaver by completing levels of the game. I've just helped Hercules to rescue the Helmet of Athena from a stable that hadn't been cleaned in 30 years. Games of this type don't come any better. I think the helmet may need a shot of Febreze.

This looks like the other games cited, but I liked the other games cited, so went for this one.

A problem I have had is that when I exit, my machine hangs, and I have to shut down manually and re-start. Game progress is saved correctly.

I'm running 64-bit Windows 7 HP, and have "untimed" and "custom cursor" selected from the game options.

Anybody have any ideas?

After the bad start with Avira, I've installed it on Win 7 x64 and Win 8, both requiring real time protection to be taken off while the setup.exe file is run and the key applied. Both files as seperate entities check out fine when running a scan - but the .gcd key file and setup.exe combined are what is throwing the [hopefully] false positive.

This game is run of the mill, mine the glyphs to get a row of 3 or more to free up the tokens to get to through the level, with some hidden object puzzles in between.
Visually and audiably fantastic. Thia is another GGOTD offering that, along with Heros of Hellas 2 from a couple of weeks ago is going to swallow my life :D

Thanks again GGOTD and Playrix.

I got the "Failure to Launch Program" also, but it isn't my anti-virus program (AVG) - it was Zemana AntiLogger.

I believe it depends on what the dev has available -- Playrix for example sells a lot of games on Big Fish, which means they have an installer tailored to Big Fish, their trials, & registration system. Most [all?] of the free game sites ave their own installers, often with optional toolbars etc. to pay the bills. Playrix itself has games available for purchase that are complete, like today's GOTD game, & some of their games need to be registered. If they don't have a game available with an installer that doesn't need registration to unlock the full game, it's Much simpler to just give away the compressed game folder.

That said, I monitor everything in a VM before it goes onto one of our systems. When a GOTD game includes the Playrix installer, you might get one or two keys, e.g. for uninstall, but that's it. In those cases I'll just transfer the game's folder from the VM to the Game folder on my wife's system, simply because it makes management simpler, e.g. if she's already got whatever game I can tell in an instant -- faster than going through the Start Menu anyway.

Referencing comment no 2 from Delilah, I agree - in fact even the music is very similar to Call of Atlantis. However, on the positive side it's a good game with the usual very professional graphics etc from Playrix. If people have come upon this game before Call of Atlantis, I would imagine that they would be very pleased indeed as it plays and looks so good.

I downloaded Call of Atlantis from this site when it was offered back in June 2013 and it's become my "game to go to" ever since (I won't say how many points I've amassed but it's in the lots of millions!). I could well believe that other people will find the same go-to-ability from this game (sorry - I don't want to say "addicition" because that would be very misleading, but certainly with Call of Atlantis there are few days when I don't play at least a couple of levels for relaxation!).

Thanks again, to GAOTD and Playrix for offering a really well-presented game.

Decent game. Windows 8.1 x64 Pro. Nice has a relaxed mode. Don't know if can switch that on/off once began. Installed to D: drive & it makes icon. Took few seconds to launch but no issues.
Thanks GOTD, be fun bitter winter mind play.

Downloaded and installed fine on Win 8.1 64 bit desktop, and running without problem or yelling from Avast; must be just an Avira issue. I liked Call of Atlantis (except for the very last level which was totally impossible for me and apparently most people who posted in other forums about it); to me the best part was the educational tidbits (I often skip dialog in these but here the dialog and written stuff was quite interesting and good for kids---a nice history lesson). This one has the same advantage, though the history is much more limited (mostly to do with Hercules instead of the more general ancient history in COA). So far, I'm finding it very easy, but assume that like COA it will get harder as it progresses.

Some more general comments: I, too, am loving Heroes of Hellas 2 from a previous recent giveaway, as well as the Weather Gods one, which I especially like despite not being a fan of time-management games because it's quite a bit different, and I can see replaying it as I get better. And I always find what I call "adventures" like the recent Reflections one a fun timewaster and would really like more of them, especially those that combine HOG, mini-games, and problem-solving.

Also, Avira, InstallCore.Gen7 , ...
Sorry, but I'm NOT switching off my antivirus so GAotD can use some rootkit based mechanism to protect itself!
You have used less offensive systems before.
Others on the Net get by without rootkits. Even Sony does (now) :-)
Please rethink.
Cas

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

Sorry to here you are unwilling to temporarily turn off your protection. I can understand this. However may I point out that the giveaway team check all games given away here throughly using several malware suites. It's not in their interest to pass on malware of any type as it would severely affect their reputation as a site that gives away clean software.

The protection they use was deemed necessary due to some community members abusing the sytem by finding a way to be able to install the games after the giveaway was finished wrapper and then passing the unprotected game onto peer to peer sites where the game became freely available to all and sundry. This back door hack was a cause for concern from some developers, so the giveaway team were forced into using the protection.

If you are still not convinced of the giveaway teams sincerity with respect to giving you a safe game, then you can always download the Gametop version, which I've linked to in my review above.

hg

Never mind, I forgot to unzip the file. Sorry!

I haven't seen anyone having my problem, it is a curious one. The Readme file says to open Behind the Reflection, a previous game offering. Also, Setup says the giveaway period is over. Windows 7-64, latest Firefox.

I won't have time to try playing this today and so won't be able to comment after playing the game. But I have yet to play a Playrix game that I haven't enjoyed. And I really enjoyed the challenges in the Atlantis series; the locks, dropping artifacts out the bottom of the board, etc. So I wanted to say thank you to Playrix for continuing to contribute to game giveaway. And thank you to game giveaway and White Rabbit for all your work arranging for games and providing them for us free at the site.

Good game. Yes, I am hooked on match 3 games. I will now be able to stop playing Heroes of Hellas. Thanks again

I'm using Avast

Hi
When I launch setup it check the availability and then reports "failed to launch program"...

Please help

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

Others have reported this issue. Try turning off your AV software temporarily. Todays game is malware free, so you should have no problems.

I am very happy with this game. I know it is similar to the Atlantis series, but the addition of the HOG feature makes it more interesting, and the graphics are very good. I just want to add a comment about the "failed to launch program" message. I also got that message. After reading the above comments, I disabled my antivirus/firewall, but still got the same message. Then I thought it might be the Zemania AntiLogger which was downloaded from GOTD last month. It had never given me problems before, but when I disabled it, I had no problem installing the game.

But what if you don't WANT to save the (not too) wonderful Peloponnese from destruction? Can you lose on purpose and watch it all FALL down?

You did say that it had a r-e-l--a---x (ahhhhhhhh) mode, right? I will no longer play timed Match 3 games. They make me all jjiitteerryy!

It looks clean and easy to see. Couldn't say that about some of the games we've gotten recently.

It's a winner winner but probably not worth a chicken dinner.

Disable protect my antivirus and very good for installation game Hercules

Some versions of Avira Antivirus show a virus false positive detection in the Setup.gcd file during installation process for this game. As a cross check I use VirusTotal online scan service to verify the file, and nothing suspicious has been revealed (as I aspected: GGOTD games are always secure). If your Avira Antivirus prevents you to install this game, simply temporarily disable "Real-time protection" feature from Avira configuration or system try icon.

Failed to launch program ??

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

Read the comments directly above yours. Thery may give a clue as to what is wrong.

I so enjoy the games from Playrix and Alawar. The Fishdom series got me hooked on match 3 games while my wife enjoys hidden object. This game has something for us both. Once again thank you guys!

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

:)

This was the first time I (reluctantly) had to temporarily disable my antivirus software because of the "failed to launch the program" window. However, the game now works correctly.
I use Avira Free Antivirus.

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

The previous commenter who had this probelm also used Avira.

I appear to be stumbling at the first hurdle however. Downloaded the .zip twice and extracted the setup.exe and .gcd file. Starting the setup dies with an error. Logs suggest that Avira is throwing a wobbly - most likely a false positive ? ADWARE/InstallCore.Gen7 [adware]

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

It's probably picking up on the gcd file, which is a security file. The game is definitely clean of any malware or adware.

Sorry ... "Failed to launch the program"

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

Are you using Avira? If the answer is yes, read the comments following yours.

Oh no - not again ! I'm still hopelessly addicted to Heros of Hellas 2 from the other week ! Same studio, same format - but bound to be as deeply addictive.
Thankyou GGOTD and Playrix.

Quote - I got Path of Hercules from one of the free sites, and it’s basically a re-work of Call of Atlantis - So is this Call of Atlantis renamed or a similar style of game based on it! I got Call of Atlantis Premium from gotd 2011/10/16 @ 88.5 MB. Have slow all day dial up and don't want a rename copy????
A song for dial up users only - A Kiss From Your Lips by The Flamingos http://archive.org/download/EsotericButExcellentDoo-wop/AKissFromYourLips-TheFlamingos.mp3 And a Sweepstake for dial-up users I.E. The Big Night In Game - Age Gate - You Could Win an Xbox One, games, movies & more!
https://familyfun.mars.com/ It's daily game, I won - Max: Curse of the Brotherhood Xbox digital game.

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

The levels are different, the pieces on the board are different, just a similar mechanic. If you like Match Three, this should be in your games library.

A nice combination of game play with Match 3 and Hidden Object elements. The bad news is this is not just an extraction. There is an actual install Process thus a chance to have the registry written into. I turned on my Tool Wiz Time Freeze and installed it to my protected drive. After the installation I copied the game folder to my external drive and "uninstalled via reboot". I appreciate the game but please go back to the extraction method. Thank you GGOTD team, the moderator, and Playrix Entertainment.

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

Most, if not all Playrix games install using this method.

I got Path of Hercules from one of the free sites, and it's basically a re-work of Call of Atlantis, except that Hercules has a Relaxed (untimed) Mode. And it looks like Call of the Ages is more of the same. Not that Call of Atlantis isn't a good game, but there's nothing new here.

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

The Atlantis series was one of my favorite match three games until they released the Match Three with RPG elements in games like Puzzle Quest and Puzzle Kingdoms. You are right, there's nothing new in todays game, but it is a decent game.