Join and win! Thorne finds himself in chains for a murder he did not commit, which is unusual.

#6

Thorne - Death Merchants

Thorne - Death Merchants is a classic 2D JRPG by a Brazilian Indie development team called Aldorlea and is part one of a character driven episodic RPG entitled Thorne: Tales of The Crow. Each episode tells a different tale of Thorne, an infamous mercenary known as The Crow. The second part of the story (Thorne - Son of Slaves ) is also available on Steam HERE for the pricely sum of £1.99/$2.99, though until 2nd September you can get 40% off (£1.19/$1.79). If you fail to get a key, or miss the game giveaway offer totally, you can get the game via Steam HERE. At the moment (until 2nd Sept, you can pick the game up at half price for £0.99/$1.49

The games dialogue can be changed from English to Portugese via the options menu. This game isn't suitable for children due to the language sometimes used in the dialogue boxes. If you are offended by swearing and assignations with prostitutes (nothing graphical), then again, this may not be a game you'd want to play.

Thorne finds himself in chains for a murder he did not commit, which is unusual. The explanation to the facts that led him to his arrest unveils the sinister truth of Hollow Lake, a nearby village crippled by corruption.

Play as an infamous mercenary known as "The Crow" in a decayed and corrupt world, find your way out of chains and get paid for your contract.

Features

Explore a corrupt and dark world, meet ambiguous and interesting characters, judge them as friends or foes.

Fight against magical creatures, wild beasts, cursed monsters, witches, sorcerers and professional hunters who are after the prize for your head.

Make your character progression as you wish. Choose from a vast variety of accessories that best serve you in combat.

Be "The Crow".

You can see a slide show of over 30 in game images HERE and some game play videos HERE, HERE and HERE.

Conclusion

A worthwhile game to get. If you are lucky enought to win a key, which at the time of posting this short review was around a 2% chance of winning a key, then again, it's dirt cheap at the moment, with 50% off this game and 40% off the second in the series (see above for links to the Steam page. I've just purchased the second one as I was impressed with the first. If you own RPG maker, which ios also available cheap on Steam, you can make games similar to this toyrself. :)

Thorne - Death Merchants
<blockquote>Thorne - Death Merchants is a classic 2D JRPG by a Brazilian Indie development team called Aldorlea and is part one of a character driven episodic RPG entitled Thorne: Tales of The Crow. Each episode tells a different tale of Thorne, an infamous mercenary known as The Crow. The second part of the story (Thorne - Son of Slaves ) is also available on Steam <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/461360" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> for the pricely sum of £1.99/$2.99, though until 2nd September you can get 40% off (£1.19/$1.79). If you fail to get a key, or miss the game giveaway offer totally, you can get the game via Steam <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/451920/" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>. At the moment (until 2nd Sept, you can pick the game up at half price for £0.99/$1.49</blockquote>
<ul><blockquote><a href='https://postimg.org/image/tkcrxbsav/' target='_blank'><img src='https://s15.postimg.org/dm4276y2z/1_main_menu.jpg' border='0' alt="1 - main menu"/></a></blockquote></ul>
<ul><blockquote><a href='https://postimg.org/image/tlmpqqu4n/' target='_blank'><img src='https://s15.postimg.org/b628tcg0b/1_options.jpg' border='0' alt="1 - options"/></a></blockquote></ul>

<blockquote>The games dialogue can be changed from English to Portugese via the options menu. This game isn't suitable for children due to the language sometimes used in the dialogue boxes. If you are offended by swearing and assignations with prostitutes (nothing graphical), then again, this may not be a game you'd want to play.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Thorne finds himself in chains for a murder he did not commit, which is unusual. The explanation to the facts that led him to his arrest unveils the sinister truth of Hollow Lake, a nearby village crippled by corruption.</blockquote> 
<blockquote>Play as an infamous mercenary known as "The Crow" in a decayed and corrupt world, find your way out of chains and get paid for your contract.</blockquote>

Features
<blockquote>Explore a corrupt and dark world, meet ambiguous and interesting characters, judge them as friends or foes. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Fight against magical creatures, wild beasts, cursed monsters, witches, sorcerers and professional hunters who are after the prize for your head. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Make your character progression as you wish. Choose from a vast variety of accessories that best serve you in combat. </blockquote>
<blockquote>Be "The Crow".</blockquote>
 
<ul><blockquote><a href='https://postimg.org/image/j5b725khz/' target='_blank'><img src='https://s15.postimg.org/wm85l0utn/image.jpg' border='0' alt="2"/></a></blockquote></ul>
<ul><blockquote><a href='https://postimg.org/image/505e0cbgn/' target='_blank'><img src='https://s15.postimg.org/cg4nm4z63/image.jpg' border='0' alt="3"/></a></blockquote></ul>

<blockquote>You can see a slide show of over 30 in game images <a href="http://s571.photobucket.com/user/Whiterabbit04/slideshow/Thorne%20-%20Death%20Merchants?sort=3" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and some game play videos <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFYjjK9ldc0" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Pdx5JY-Qc" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk46eMzV99M" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>.</blockquote>

Conclusion

<blockquote>A worthwhile game to get. If you are lucky enought to win a key, which at the time of posting this short review was around a 2% chance of winning a key, then again, it's dirt cheap at the moment, with 50% off this game and 40% off the second in the series (see above for links to the Steam page. I've just purchased the second one as I was impressed with the first. If you own RPG maker, which ios also available cheap on Steam, you can make games similar to this toyrself. :)</blockquote>

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Reply | Comment by Whiterabbit-uk – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

#7

Thanks for the key ! very nice !
Best Regards, Ben

Reply | Comment by Ben – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#5

Thank you, Martin. I know people get resistant to change so I understand much of the angst. While this type of game doesn't appeal to me, I have have gotten one of the Steam games from one of the giveaways.

I am also no real fan of social media, in fact Facebook closed one of the first accounts I made for my older gamer ID because it wasn't a 'real name'. My second account has a more realistic fake 'real name'. as its alias.

I always look for what's here at Game giveaway, because I'm a fan.
Thank you for all you do!

I did however create a FB ID that is

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

The only Facebook account I've ever created for myself several years ago was closed about 4-5 years ago because I used the name Whiterabbit-uk. I've never bothered to create another one. I only created the account to play some of the free games that were available. I don't even remember getting a warning that the account was to be closed. I tried to log in one day and got nothing :)

Reply | Comment by Wagashigrrl – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#4

I want win this game

Reply | Comment by Dmitry Borodavko – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#3

I'm sick and tired of the 'no one leaves comments' excuse when the real problem is that this 'new' site has turned into a half-mule site.
The reason no feedback is left for games played is that this 'new' site makes it a pain in the rear to do so - after the games are played. Half the links are dead ('Server not found' .idea.informer.com.), and the other half have nothing to do with past games to comment on.
Maybe I'm missing something, but the 'dates' only go back 2 months, and I can't remember which date I downloaded something (I delete the downloaded file once installed - it's not like I can use it after that date), and I'm not going to click on every link to find a place to leave a comment on.
No wonder no one leaves comments on games. You make it too hard.

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

It seems you didn't find it hard to leave yet another negative comment about something other than the game being given away here. Games have been given away virtually every weekend on this site for almost 10 years, yet rarely do we get any actual comments about the game, except maybe when I kick up a little fuss about it. On average only 0.01% of the community bother to even comment, and of those only 0.1% to 0.05% are related to the actual game being given away here. You'd think out of the thousands of community members downloading a game for free, that more would at least post some thing about the game they have been given free, instead of complaining about the method by which it has been given. Most, like yours are complaints about the system etc. This is a site where you can still get free games despite the difficulties faced in getting developers to give thousands of copies for virtually nothing in return. When they see the complaints and whinging that goes on here, it's no wonder the giveaway team are finding it increasingly difficult to secure decent games and why they have had to resort to other ways of getting games. Why the constant negativity, it really is beyond my comprehension. I was always brought up to show gratitude when something was given to me, even if it was disappointing. Maybe I'm just getting too old for the new attitudes that people have these days. It's dead simple to leave a comment about the game, as you have just done here. :)

I'm sick and tired of the 'no one leaves comments' excuse when the real problem is that this 'new' site has turned into a half-mule site.
The reason no feedback is left for games played is that this 'new' site makes it a pain in the rear to do so - after the games are played. Half the links are dead ('Server not found' .idea.informer.com.), and the other half have nothing to do with past games to comment on.
Maybe I'm missing something, but the 'dates' only go back 2 months, and I can't remember which date I downloaded something (I delete the downloaded file once installed - it's not like I can use it after that date), and I'm not going to click on every link to find a place to leave a comment on.
No wonder no one leaves comments on games. You make it too hard.

<blockquote>...................Moderator Comment........................</blockquote>
<blockquote>It seems you didn't find it hard to leave yet another negative comment about something other than the game being given away here. Games have been given away virtually every weekend on this site for almost 10 years, yet rarely do we get any actual comments about the game, except maybe when I kick up a little fuss about it. On average only 0.01% of the community bother to even comment, and of those only 0.1% to 0.05% are related to the actual game being given away here. You'd think out of the thousands of community members downloading a game for free, that more would at least post some thing about the game they have been given free, instead of complaining about the method by which it has been given. Most, like yours are complaints about the system etc. This is a site where you can still get free games despite the difficulties faced in getting developers to give thousands of copies for virtually nothing in return. When they see the complaints and whinging that goes on here, it's no wonder the giveaway team are finding it increasingly difficult to secure decent games and why they have had to resort to other ways of getting games. Why the constant negativity, it really is beyond my comprehension. I was always brought up to show gratitude when something was given to me, even if it was disappointing. Maybe I'm just getting too old for the new attitudes that people have these days. It's dead simple to leave a comment about the game, as you have just done here. :)</blockquote>

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Reply | Comment by sirpaultoo – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)

sirpaultoo, most persons comment in 24 hours. maybe 2 comments a week later. Easy to be disappointed in something. hard to appreciate or build stuff.

Reply | Comment by john – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)

#2

Wow...giving away TEN ! Hope it doesn't bankrupt them. And the old program at that. Such generosity. I know it sounds crazy but I'll pass on this wonderful offer.

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

The game isn't that old. It was released on Steam back in March 2016 and is part of a series that is ongoing. The second in the series i.e. episode 2 called 'Thorne: Son of Slaves' was only released 3 days ago on the 26th August. The game does use the older rPG Maker game engine, which gives it the look of an old JRPG game, but those are very popular at this time. :)

Reply | Comment by Brian K – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)

#1

More and more game giveaways require participation in social media. I don't do social media, and never will! So that give me absolutely no change on any of those. Giveawayoftheday never used to be that way. It pains me to see that this is becoming a requirement here as well. Count me out!

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

Hi Martin, the game giveaway team will still bring you 'traditional ' giveaways; unfortunately the gaming industry has gone through some massive changes over the last several years. The ease at which anyone can buy a game engine cheaply (see Steam, where most of the game engines used to make games are now available at very reasonable costs - For example you'll find over 100 software packages in the Game Engine section such as Gamemaker Studio (now free), RPG Maker, Construct 2 (free), Axis Game Factory, Fuse (free), Leadwerks Game Engine, Atavism MMO Maker, RTS Creator, Blender (free), Game Guru, and CryEngine all of which you'll find HERE, then there's almost 150 animation and modelling software packages HERE and almost 300 Design and Illustration softwares HERE, not to mention audio production and other gaming utilities.).

This has led to a massive glut of what many term 'Shovelware'. You can pick up upwards of ten indie games via loads of indie game bundles for as little as a dollar, that's 10 cents a game, some of which sell via commercial sites for as much as $20. The gaming industry is in crisis at the moment. Many developers are going out of business and the big AAA developers are cancelling many of their projects. We used to have to pay $20 per arcade game, now those games are selling for 'on average' $6 or less (unless they are included in one of the hundreds of indie bundles released over the last few years). At this point in time there are around 60 different bundles available from places like Groupee's, Indie Gala, Bundle Stars, Humble Bundle, The Cubic Bundle, Otakumaker, The Game Bundle, The Flying Bundle, Lazy Guys, etc. some are offering up to 10 codes for each of the games they are including so that you can pass them on to friends. For example one indie bundle (the name escapes me at this time but I think it's Otakumaker) sells one bundle with 8 games for $1.99, if you pay $2.99 you get five codes for each game, pay a couple more dollars and you get 10 codes for each game.

Unfortunately it's become increasingly difficult to get developers to give away thousands of copies of their games, (especially when most of the comments posted don't even say anything about the game given, instead we see complaints about the way they are given etc). Developers get very little remuneration from giving away via this site. They get paid a token amount from the giveaway team, and some community members may even buy other games from them, but they can make much more money by giving the game to free games sites like MyPlayCity, Gametop and TooMky Games because they earn cash every time you play the game because when your browser is redirected to the MPC (or other free game site), the site earns cash through the advertising they have; part of which goes to the developer. The more people that play the game and the more times each individual plays the game, the more the developer earns.

The giveaway team have had to find other sources of games and this new way is one of those ways. It's better to have something to offer than nothing at all. Personally I don't use social media, but I do now have accounts set up specifically to get my free games. I don't use any of them to post personal information, I use them just to jump through the hoops that are becoming much more common than they were even a year ago. Things are only going to get worse with respect to social media. It's still very easy to set up a Twitter and Face book account at no cost to yourself apart from a few moments of your time, using say a hotmail/outlook email, that you only have to use for those purposes. Once set up, you can ignore the actual social side and just enjoy the games you will get for free just by using the accounts you set up specifically for that purpose. Personally I don't see the problem, but as I've said before each to their own. If you are dead set against creating such accounts, even if they remained idle (apart from getting free games) that's your business. :)

More and more game giveaways require participation in social media. I don't do social media, and never will! So that give me absolutely no change on any of those. Giveawayoftheday never used to be that way. It pains me to see that this is becoming a requirement here as well. Count me out!

<blockquote>...................Moderator Comment........................</blockquote>
<blockquote>Hi Martin, the game giveaway team will still bring you 'traditional ' giveaways; unfortunately the gaming industry has gone through some massive changes over the last several years. The ease at which anyone can buy a game engine cheaply (see Steam, where most of the game engines used to make games are now available at very reasonable costs - For example you'll find over 100 software packages in the Game Engine section such as Gamemaker Studio (now free), RPG Maker, Construct 2 (free), Axis Game Factory, Fuse (free), Leadwerks Game Engine, Atavism MMO Maker, RTS Creator, Blender (free), Game Guru, and CryEngine all of which you'll find <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/tag/en/Game%20Development/#p=0&tab=NewReleases" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, then there's almost 150 animation and modelling software packages <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/tag/en/Animation%20%26%20Modeling/#p=0&tab=NewReleases" rel="nofollow">HERE</a> and almost 300 Design and Illustration softwares <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/tag/en/Design%20%26%20Illustration/#p=0&tab=NewReleases" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>, not to mention audio production and other gaming utilities.).</blockquote>
<blockquote> This has led to a massive glut of what many term 'Shovelware'. You can pick up upwards of ten indie games via loads of indie game bundles for as little as a dollar, that's 10 cents a game, some of which sell via commercial sites for as much as $20. The gaming industry is in crisis at the moment. Many developers are going out of business and the big AAA developers are cancelling many of their projects. We used to have to pay $20 per arcade game, now those games are selling for 'on average' $6 or less (unless they are included in one of the hundreds of indie bundles released over the last few years). At this point in time there are around 60 different bundles available from places like Groupee's, Indie Gala, Bundle Stars, Humble Bundle, The Cubic Bundle, Otakumaker, The Game Bundle, The Flying Bundle, Lazy Guys, etc. some are offering up to 10 codes for each of the games they are including so that you can pass them on to friends. For example one indie bundle (the name escapes me at this time but I think it's Otakumaker) sells one bundle with 8 games for $1.99, if you pay $2.99 you get five codes for each game, pay a couple more dollars and you get 10 codes for each game.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Unfortunately it's become increasingly difficult to get developers to give away thousands of copies of their games, (especially when most of the comments posted don't even say anything about the game given, instead we see complaints about the way they are given etc). Developers get very little remuneration from giving away via this site. They get paid a token amount from the giveaway team, and some community members may even buy other games from them, but they can make much more money by giving the game to free games sites like MyPlayCity, Gametop and TooMky Games because they earn cash every time you play the game because when your browser is redirected to the MPC (or other free game site), the site earns cash through the advertising they have; part of which goes to the developer. The more people that play the game and the more times each individual plays the game, the more the developer earns.</blockquote>
<blockquote>The giveaway team have had to find other sources of games and this new way is one of those ways. It's better to have something to offer than nothing at all. Personally I don't use social media, but I do now have accounts set up specifically to get my free games. I don't use any of them to post personal information, I use them just to jump through the hoops that are becoming much more common than they were even a year ago. Things are only going to get worse with respect to social media. It's still very easy to set up a Twitter and Face book account at no cost to yourself apart from a few moments of your time, using say a hotmail/outlook email, that you only have to use for those purposes. Once set up, you can ignore the actual social side and just enjoy the games you will get for free just by using the accounts you set up specifically for that purpose. Personally I don't see the problem, but as I've said before each to their own. If you are dead set against creating such accounts, even if they remained idle (apart from getting free games) that's your business. :)</blockquote>

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Reply | Comment by Martin – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)

[fix typos]: "So that gives me absolutely no chance on any of those"

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

I really can't say. There are other outlets for free games that don't use suvch tactics, but most of those are either rife with malware opportunities or require other things, for example Ashraf's Falamid site often gives away games (you can find it via 'Shareware on Sale', most of which are Steam keys, so you'd need Steam installed to be able to play, or at least install the game./ (Once a game has been installed via Steam, you may find it's not necessary to sign into steam, the games can often be played by creating a shortcut from the games installed folders executable, unfortunately a lot of Steam games do require you to be online before you can access them.:)

Reply | Comment by Martin – 8 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+5)

Thank you for the elaborate reply. Yes, I do understand that the game industry is changing, and I appreciate that the giveawayoftheday team will try whatever it takes to be able to keep giving away games for free (and yes, I am aware of those bundles, and have even bought a few of them).
And sure, I could create a fake Facebook account to share the game giveawayoftheday account, if I really wanted to.
But on the other hand, when hundreds of people are asked to "Leave a review or comment the game on Steam" before they even have the game, and when out of all of those, only 10 will actually get the game, then I see that as a very questionable way from the game company to increase their ratings (besides, it conflicts with Steam's own policy that you have to have played the game, before you are able to leave a review). So, even though the game looks nice, and I would have loved to try it, I'd rather not own this game, than support the game company in this.

And yes, I understand that you're not happy with people leaving this kind of comments, as opposed to people leaving actual game reviews, but when the game companies choose this kind of distribution methods to push their agenda, then this is the kind of feedback they will get... I hope they learn from that.

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

Thank you for your reply Martin. with respect to the developer. I don't think it was they who asked for the comments about the game to be left on Steam, and, as you know, it's not possible anyway until you've actually got the game tied to your account and have played it for at least 10 minutes or more. The wording should have read, ''visit the page to see what the game was about'', and in fact, that is all you needed to do to get an entry for that particular task, *there's still 3 hours left at the time of writing).

Sadly as there are only 10 keys available for this game only approximately 4% - 5% of those entering will get a key assuming everyone made three entries via the two tasks. I've already purchased the game and the next in the series, which was release 3 days ago because I enjoy this type of RPG *though I prefer RPG's such as the Elder Scrolls even more). I've been playing them for years and even have the latest RPG maker with most of the dlc so that I can make my own games (though I keep finding excuses not to, lol) Again, thank you for your reply. regards Stephen

p.s. I don't have any problems as such with negative reviews about this site, i just wish there were a lot more concerning the games. I've always believed that this site could become a nexus for new developers peddling their games, with the draw being great feedback and suggestions from the community, but sadly so far those comments be they negative or positive about the games have never really materialized despite my regular requests. I really would have thought out of the tens of thousands of community members we have, we would have had more interested in posting their views about the games they have downloaded. Those comments don't need to be posted on the day, they can be posted anytime, you just have to go to the linear calendar at the bottom of the home page and select the date the game was given away then click on the comments section and post..:)

Thank you for the elaborate reply. Yes, I do understand that the game industry is changing, and I appreciate that the giveawayoftheday team will try whatever it takes to be able to keep giving away games for free (and yes, I am aware of those bundles, and have even bought a few of them).
And sure, I could create a fake Facebook account to share the game giveawayoftheday account, if I really wanted to.
But on the other hand, when hundreds of people are asked to "Leave a review or comment the game on Steam" before they even have the game, and when out of all of those, only 10 will actually get the game, then I see that as a very questionable way from the game company to increase their ratings (besides, it conflicts with Steam's own policy that you have to have played the game, before you are able to leave a review). So, even though the game looks nice, and I would have loved to try it, I'd rather not own this game, than support the game company in this.

And yes, I understand that you're not happy with people leaving this kind of comments, as opposed to people leaving actual game reviews, but when the game companies choose this kind of distribution methods to push their agenda, then this is the kind of feedback they will get... I hope they learn from that.

<blockquote>...................Moderator Comment........................</blockquote>
<blockquote>Thank you for your reply Martin. with respect to the developer. I don't think it was they who asked for the comments about the game to be left on Steam, and, as you know, it's not possible anyway until you've actually got the game tied to your account and have played it for at least 10 minutes or more. The wording should have read, ''visit the page to see what the game was about'', and in fact, that is all you needed to do to get an entry for that particular task, *there's still 3 hours left at the time of writing).</blockquote> <blockquote>Sadly as there are only 10 keys available for this game only approximately 4% - 5% of those entering will get a key assuming everyone made three entries via the two tasks. I've already purchased the game and the next in the series, which was release 3 days ago because I enjoy this type of RPG *though I prefer RPG's such as the Elder Scrolls even more). I've been playing them for years and even have the latest RPG maker with most of the dlc so that I can make my own games (though I keep finding excuses not to, lol) Again, thank you for your reply. regards Stephen</blockquote>

<blockquote>p.s. I don't have any problems as such with negative reviews about this site, i just wish there were a lot more concerning the games. I've always believed that this site could become a nexus for new developers peddling their games, with the draw being great feedback and suggestions from the community, but sadly so far those comments be they negative or positive about the games have never really materialized despite my regular requests. I really would have thought out of the tens of thousands of community members we have, we would have had more interested in posting their views about the games they have downloaded. Those comments don't need to be posted on the day, they can be posted anytime, you just have to go to the linear calendar at the bottom of the home page and select the date the game was given away then click on the comments section and post..:)</blockquote>

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