I usually like farming games, but there's just something about this one that turns me off. Maybe it's that several times I had to restart it because it just got "stuck", or maybe it's just that's it's not all that engaging. At any rate, I played for an hour or so and haven't opened the game since. 2.5 out of 5

I went to uninstall this game as I don't like TM games. I put the game title in my Search to find if there's an uninstall. What came up was quite alarming. If you have a way I could send a snapshot of what came up, I would like for you to look at. It seems it found its way into all kinds of files/folder and seemed to have planted a worm, trojan or whatever it is.
It looks like it corrupted 86 files, so far.

Please advise.
Thank you

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


Hi Subhadhra, scuze the delay in replying to you. If you have Win 7 or 8.1 and possibly Vista there is a screen capture program included called Snipping Tool. Type the name in the search field and it should bring up an icon that looks like a pair of scissors with a blue handle cutting into a round shape with a red edge. Use this tool to take your screen captures, then upload them to the free image file sharing site:

http://postimage.org/


once the images have been uploaded, copy the link says hotlink for website by clicking on the button to the right that says copy to clipboard.

We should then be able to see what you are talking aobut.

To be honest, the giveaway team have been giving away games for several years now (since late 2006 and have always ensured the games are throughly checked for malware. As yet no game has every been shown to contain malware.

If a game was responsible for messing up a computer, it would be evident from the many comments posted by the community. There are usually at least 10 thousand downloads or more of most games given away. The number has been as high as 40 thouusand downloads and as low as 4 thousand, however as only yourself has appeared to have this problem, it's highly unlikely to be the fault of the game.

I also did a search and only found the installed game, which doesn't come with an uninstaller. Most game giveaways don't, which is why to uninstall you have to physically delete the game from the place you installed it to. you can see what the game folder contains via the image below@

No other folder contained elements from this game. I also did a registry search and the only registry entry I found referenced where I'd chosen to install the game onto my J drive. No other registry entries for the giveaway were found. (see the second image)

Oh yeah, be sure to select the 640x480 resize option when uploading the images you are going to show us.

Thank you.

Great to see a different game genre after the run of HOG games! (They've all been good to excellent, so I'm backed-up with gameplay now!) This is not my game type, so no download and no vote; but Alawar games are always very good.

For Napoleon Park and others: The Rescue series games are available for about $4 from BigFish Games, and you seem to get every second game free from them: I became such a fan that I've bought the whole series -- but the second game - Rescue Team - is the best.

Hope you had a Happy Birthday, Whiterabbit, and good luck with the exams reviewing.

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

Thanks

No negative or constructive comment to make since I didn't download. Way back when I first got on the facebook, within a year I was playing SEVEN of these Farm games - back when Farmville was being mentioned in articles as facebooks most popular attraction. I kicked that addiction long ago but I guess there are still some people playing it.

I just wanted to mention that though I'm not usually a HOG fan I really enjoyed the last five GGOTD hdden object adventure games. Of those, so far I made it to the end of Hope Lake while I'm most likely to give up on Insane Cold. Funny how these giveaways come in waves, with some people actually griping when they get "too many" FREE brick breakers or match-threes. Personally that wave of five consecutive HOGs converted me into a fan of the genre.

I did have to do a full system recovery late last year that cost me all my old game giveaways, so if there's any reposts on the schedule for anything with the words "Rescue" or "Fishdom" in the names, I'd be overjoyed to see them.

And if I never mentioned it in any past remarks, Whiterabbit's contributions here are invaluable aids in determining whether to download a game or not. Thanks for your dedication to the hobby and I hope those exams get aced.

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

Thanks for your comment Napoleon Park

No problems d/l, extracting, win7/64. I love farm games, but this one is just a little too repetitive and isn't as creative as some of the others out there. Getting harder to find a new farm game that is fresh and new. This one could at least have been better, but it was the same actions over and over again.

Happy birthday Whiterabbit, hope you had a pleasant day and that your son is doing well with his revision?

Didn't download today's game as I'm not really into farm mamagement games, just wanted to leave the birthday wishes

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

Thanks Hard Water, yes, it's been okay, though not as restful as previous birthdays due to my sons exams. Just realized that we are now going to have the same situation for the next several years as next year Cal will be doing his AS level exams, then the next year both Cal and em will have important exams, Cal his A levels and em her GCSE's, then Em the following year her AS level exams, then the next year her A levels, then the following year Callums final year exams at university. That said, I doubt either of them will need assistance by the time they are going to uni (hopefully)

Had to do some folder and name juggling , seems the Game 2 has the same file names as the older Game 1 , so tries to overwrite everything. Just a bgger , more invlved game now.

I played it for about 2 hours. I'm level 2 on the market screen, level 3 on the farm screen, and have unlocked level 2 on 2 of my machines. I love time management games, but this one is just too boring and repetitive. I don't care for having to switch back and forth between three screens. I like to be able to see all of my tasks at one time so that I can manage them more efficiently. I also think upgrades should be made available much earlier. Another thing that I didn't like is that I could only pick up the same type of crop. I couldn't just pick up any 3 or 4 crops. That would have been a feature I could live with if I didn't have to till and water plants as well. By the time I was two hours in, all my crops were coming in at different times. This just added more needless repetition to the game where it wasn't necessary. Overall, I feel like this game could have been fun, but it just needed some tweaks to make it more fun. I did enjoy the humorous letters/messages throughout the game.

per Susan's comment (#2), this will *overwrite* the GGOTD installation of the first Virtual Farm (if it's in the default location, C:\Games\).

to keep the first Virtual Farm, install this to another location. after installing, you can rename the installed folder and move it where you'd like it.

thanks so much for this game, GGOTD, Alawar, and especially Whiterabbit. wishing your son all the best on his exams!

I don't quite understand all of the thumbs down votes? When this game got 5 stars on Amazon for sale. Alawar puts out some really good titles and I own quite a few of them. Time management games just may not be for everyone I suppose.

I haven't tried the game yet although it looks like it will play the same as the other one. I just wanted to pass along a warning.
The original game file name vs the second game file name:
VirtualFarm_game vs VirtualFarm_Game
The original game name vs the second game name:
VirtualFarm.exe vs VirtualFarm.exe

Be very careful installing because it will try to overwrite the original game.

As it turns out, my daughters have been playing the (limited) free online version of this game for several years now. They try every farm game they come across, so if they're still playing this one, it must be good!
Downloaded and installed without problems on Win8.1 64-bits. My first impression: nice game, less stressful than Farm Frenzy. Not quite sure about the various options in the marketplace, but I guess I will figure it out in the end.
Suggestion for the developer: I would like to be able to turn off the tutorial function, I don't like being forced to play the game exactly the "right" way, I'd rather decide for myself which crops to sow etc.

Thanks for this game Whiterabbit. It downloaded very fast to my Win 7/64 and came up fine. I don't have time to play it now as my husband an I are picking up a friend for church later this morning. I've still got to sleep!

However, I just downloaded it and it overwrote the first one that was given away last June. It doesn't bother me though as it turns out I'd never played that one before, so nothing was lost. Hopefully this one is an improvement on the original anyway.

Same as yesterday, too much to do with exam practice with my son to post a full review. I'll still be moderating, but not as often as I usually do. Only two more weeks till normal service is resumed. :)

Virtual Farm 2

We received the first in the series last June. you can see the review and comments via the following link:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/virtual-farm/


Videos

You can see game play (spoilers) videos via You Tube HERE, HERE and HERE ....... Spoiler alert.........

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Problems:


If you have any problems installing or getting today's game to work please go HERE for help. I've posted most of the common problems and solutions in a FAQ thread, which you can find in the sticky section of the forums by following the above link.


If you are posting late in the day I would also suggest posting in the main giveaway forums, in the game discussion section because I cannot moderate 24hrs a day over the weekend. I've created a thread HERE for that purpose. If you've installed the game but it won’t work for some reason, it should still be registered, so someone may be able to help at another time. Unfortunately if your problem is actually installing it then once the giveaway period is over there’s nothing that can be done until the game is given away again (though that isn't guaranteed). Sometimes you can still register the game after the giveaway has ended so long as you managed to start the download before the giveaway ends. I've tested this and the grace period lasts for up to 1 hour.


It’s always worth checking out the free games sites because sometimes the games we get here are also available for free from them. MyPlayCity (MPC) has the most with over 1000 games to choose from. Other sites include Gametop and FreeGamePick. Todays game is available as the collectors edition from MyPlayCity:

http://www.myplaycity.com/consciousness/


If you do download any games from MyPlayCity, Gametop or the other free game sites 'do' watch out for toolbars etc. Make sure you un-check the check-boxes during installation, and, in the case of MyPlayCity, every time you boot the game up, (this may have changed now as these free game sites tend to change the format frequently. .. I've posted links to all of the common free game sites below in the games, games games section. :)http://steamcommunity.com/app/263200
For now I won't be recommending you download games from Jenkat Games. They have changed the way you get games from their site. Diane has posted information about this over in the game discussion forums. If I have time or remember, I'll link to it. Cab Lady/Lady Lei doesn't recommend TooMyk Games due to malware warnings.

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Games, Games, and yet more Games plus Download, Installation & Game play Problems:




There are 258 games on sale over on Steam this week, ranging from 10% to 90% off. You can find a full list of all sale items HERE.

You'll also find some excellent deals over on the following Game sites.

GreenManGaming
Gamersgate Summer Sale
GOG (DRM free games)
Desura
Gamestop
GameFly (soon to be sold off)




Free Game Sites:


MyPlayCity (over a 1000 games to choose from)
Gametop
FreeGamePick



To be honest there are too many game deals around too list them all. Just visit the sites I recommend above and I'm sure you'll find something that suits you for a very decent price. If like me you prefer Steamworks games, many of the above sites also sell steamwork games.

If that's not enough, check out the Game Discussion forums HERE for details of other games either free or on deals such as the Indie Game bundles (there's over 20 of them - If you purchased all of them you'd be paying around $80 for around a thousand dollars worth of games); or check out the four day sales at IndieGameStand. you'll find the indie bundles thread HERE. The thread is outdated, but all of the links will still take you to the latest bundles.








The latest IndieGameStand game is called Grey Cubes:


Grey Cubes is a modern variation on the brick-breaker-type game, based on real-time physics and three-dimensional gameplay (not just 3d look).

Minimalist in style, with clean graphics and deep, original soundtrack.

The game contains 60 levels, each one is unique, each one with new challenges.

Features:
- addicting mechanics based on classic idea mixed with real-time physics and three-dimensional gameplay,
- a traditional system of power-ups incorporated into modern gameplay mechanics,
- multi-layered levels.

PLUS, if you pay over the average, which at the time of writing was $1.42 you will also get the OST. The deal ends Thursday 11rd June 2015 5am (GMT)


The latest DIG game is Dark Matter:
Discover this amazing remake of the classic arcade game Asteroids! Dark Matter recreates the excitement and frantic gameplay of the title that made history. In 1980, Asteroids was one of the most commercially successful games that helped to establish video games as a lasting entertainment medium. Now, embark on 30 various intergalactic missions in Campaign mode or opt to survive an endless attack in Challenge mode.

You can get two keys if you pay more than the average of $1.23 (at the time of writing). One key to share with a friend or family member perhaps? You'll find that deal HERE. They also have four bundles of several games that'll cost you less than $1.50 each HERE (DIG Bundles 29, 30 31 & 32 plus one Desura bundle). You get Steam keys for all of these games apart from the Desura bundle. Five of the six games included are on Steams Greenlight project, so, if they are Greenlit, you will get a Steam key. The single game deal ends Midnight Tuesday (9th June) and will be replaced Dead Effect.

Most of the other bundles retail for around $5 give or take a few dollars (apart from the Daily Indie bundles that only cost $1.49 for six games), but you can pay as little as a dollar for some. There are some excellent bundles out at the moment. Check out the following:
Groupees (5 bundles)
Indie Gala (6 bundles)
Humble bundle (2 Bundles)
Indie Royale (2 bundles available)
Bundle Bandits (0 bundles)
Blink Bundle (0 bundles)
Play Injector (0 bundle)
Get Loaded (0 bundles)
Games Rage (0 bundles)
Flying bundle (0 bundles)

The free game from Origin has changed to Ultima 8 Gold Edition. It's been optimised for todays computers. Well worth getting, especially if you are into classic games. Check it out HERE.
You do need a free Origin account and install the Origin client to get these free games. Once you've installed the Origin client and signed into your account select 'On the house' from the 'Free Games' drop down menu. Then select download now. The game will then be registered to your Origin account.

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A Request for helpl>:

Developers rely on good feedback to improve their games. If you download this game please take some time once you’ve played it a while to leave some constructive feedback either positive or negative. The more constructive feedback we get, the more likely developers are going to give more games away. The giveaway site already has a very good standing with the search engines. Developers want their products out there on the WWW, this site has the potential to do that. The game giveaway project gives away on average between 9 to 17 thousand downloads for each game depending upon what genre and how obscure the game is. That’s a lot of homes these games are being downloaded into and a lot of 'potential' cash that’s being lost by the developers. If we get better games because of better feedback, the community are likely to continue to benefit from the generosity of the developers. Satisfied community members are then more likely to visit the home sites of those developers and purchase games that they may not have bothered with before they discovered the developer via the game giveaway site, thus giving the developers more incentives to give away even more decent games.

Please leave some feedback once you’ve checked the game out. It can be positive or negative, but please explain what your reasons were for the feedback you post. You could also leave suggestions for improving the game, for example, this game could do with more block types for the levels editor, add more power-ups, describing the ones you think would be suitable, add some mini games (which seem all the rage in some arcade games now) or enable the user to be able to change the in game music easily.

Thank you in advance to all those who take the time to post a constructive comment, and a big thank you to immanitas games for sharing and to the game giveaway team for getting these games.

Regards

Whiterabbit aka Stephen