You should rerun this for all the folks without power / internet during Hurricane Sandy! I most definitely would have given this game a go if I could have!

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

That's a good point Mark. Trouble is the giveaway team would have to pay the developer again. Maybe it will be re-run sometime in he not too distant future.

also you can get a free copy from MyPlayCity and I think Gametop. Check my review @ comment # 1 for links.

Great Mahjong game. Thanks GGAOTD and of course Playrix!

To respond to your comments, I ran both a virus scan and a spyware scan (from ESET and Spybot) and came up clean. I downloaded the program FreezbGames.exe from this site, no question about it. I will note that I downloaded this right after midnight, and apparently before the program was available. The page had an unusual message on in, the exact wording of which I do not remember, but I clicked on the box since it was in the right place. FreezbGames.exe started to download, but ESET warned me immediately and stopped download, giving me a "Network Error" before the program had finished downloading. I'm not sure what you put on the site after midnight but prior to a program's availability, but that seemed to be the problem. I have NEVER had a problem with any game I've downloaded on this site.

Love these games, found the not match elimination round very difficult. Thank-you

Hi I live in New Jersey and just received my cable (internet service) and power back today, Monday, Nov 5th....I really would have loved to have access to this game, is there any way it can be re-offered for those of us that missed it due to power/cable-internet outages due hurricane Sandy? I know I would appreciate it greatly. Thanks!


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

Unfortunately no. Though it may be given away at a later date. There are two others in this series that may appear in the not too distant future (though there's no guarantee.

You can get the game for free 24/7 from MyPlayCity (MPC) and Gametop. I've linked to the download pages in my review. I'd download from Gametop in preference to MPC as MPC have become quite aggressive (with toolbars, adverts etc) recently.

Just over 13000 downloads for this game.

Of course, all the background color is just window dressing, but why not? Some people think the art of these typse of backgrounds is somewhat derivative and do not require as much effort as they seem to, but I really appreciate this semi-realistic style and all the historical background to me is real significant value added. The high number of variations on the basic solitaire game drives replayability through the roof and I would give it an extra point in originality over your vote, Stephen, since it's combines the extra games, one or two which may be unique, with the added backgrounds, which seem to be unique to mahjongg games. Unique at least at this level of detail. And the extra options help with the major problem of mahjongg solitaire. That is that unless the developer uses a specific algorithm for tile placement, many games are mathematically unwinnable, like many types of solitaire. Which is a bigger problem with mahjongg than cards, because with cards you at least realize it's frequently unwinnable even if your perfect in your moves. Don't know, though, if some games don't have special tiles or they can be turned off for greater challenge.

Music okay, standard synthetic game stuff, slightly aggressive, but not overly annoying. Lightning bolt effect clever, but a little in your face. Custom cursor doesn't do anything for me, but that's personal preference. Options menu good.

And looking through one large list of available competitors, this seems like really good value for the money, maybe even outstanding. I found no other with this level of attractive backgrounds, and none with informative ones. The only thing that could compete is the 3-D ones - meaning 360 degree rotatable puzzles - and a race type one called "Around the World in 80 minutes. And those are similar priced or higher. Also competitive are those which bundle mahjongg solitaire with other types of card/board games, but they wouldn't please the mahjongg addict as much as this should.

Overall, this strikes me as exceptional value for anyone intriqued by it.


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


Thank you for your excellent feedback watcher.

Hello, it's a great game. I see on some screenshots german language. Is it possible to get a german version?




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


I'm sure there must be a German version, probably (ob) from a Germany distributor. I'd contact the developer and ask. The reason why I posted some German images was because around 30% of the images i used were copied from the net using Google Image.

This is a quite good game! The backround pictures are cool!
Only detractor from this awesome game I am watching the news
on TV! There is a zombie called the Whiterabbit loose in the UK! There is great fear that the zombie is unstoppable and we are all doomed, thereby we wounldn't be able to complete the game!
Now that is scaremongering potential from outa the UK!!!


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

:D

@#60 et. al. I got the same Norton warning, but I disabled it and installed anyway. Plays fine on Windows7 64-bit. Nice graphics, smooth animation. Some of the background artwork is a bit "busy" for my taste, especially while trying to match the more colorful tiles. The variety of games looks interesting, though I've only tried 4 or 5 so far it looks like there's a lot more to discover. It's a fun match game, but maybe they went a bit overboard with all the bells and whistles.

With all the "extras" that abound in this game I did not notice any alternate tile styles, or even the possibility of playing a plain, old "classic" game of Mahjong. With all the "new" stuff they put in this one, why not include the ability to play the original tile-matching game too? There seem to be many, many variables but I haven't noticed a way to select the specific game I want to play with the tiles I'd like to use on the layout I prefer. It's great to have such a wide variety of match games, but I don't appreciate *always* having to play the set up the computer hands me. There's tons of wonderful "stuff" in this one. Why not let the player pick/choose favorites, with a "random" option for letting the computer to decide. Maybe it could be a reward, after you get all the way through.

Thanks WR, GGOTD and Playrix (you have some great games!).
Best, LuckyKitty



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



Thanks for your feedback LuckyKitty - Good point, but then there are hundreds already available even for free. The simple mode is basic matching pairs except you get power ups as well. :)

Thank you very, very much GGOTD and Playrix for this fabulous game! I'm late getting back here to leave a comment about it because it was so hard to tear myself away form playing it. I am so very pleased with it for many reasons, not the least is that I can finally play MahJong! It may have just been the idea that it was too difficult or something, but before now I just couldn't seem to learn how to play it. I love all the choices of layouts, and I haven't tried the different ways of playing yet, but from what I've read about them, I know I'll love them as well. I have many, Playrix games already and that's why I had every reason to be optimistic about todays game. Playrix, you've done it again with beautiful graphics and a great game that will provide it's users with endless playability. A real winner in my opinion.


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

Thank you for your feedback.

HOORAY...I LOVE Mahjong and this one looks VERY unique...Can't wait to play it! Thanks Giveaway folks and Thanks Playrix Entertainment for providing this game!

OK, here's another country heard from.
I have over 110 programs on my computer that I have downloaded either from here on the game site, or the main giveaway site.
I have had problems with activation, compatibility, and any of a number of other issues with things I have DL'd, but I NEVER EVER GOT A VIRUS OR MALWARE FROM THE GIVEAWAY PROJECT!!!
I have been doing this for years and have even lost programs by replacing my computer, but never had an issue with something being in the download that wasn't supposed to be there.



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

Thanks for your feedback.

Hello Stephen,

Thanks to your reply. I always confused freeware with games given away for free. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Although now that you mention it, I remember you pointing that out a few times here. Sorry I had forgotten but will remember now.

Just a comment about your pic explaining Software Informer. I think it's brilliant!!! Specially for new computer users who don't really know their way around. The picture helps to get the point across.

For Barbara #62 - In the "Logical Pair" the items you have to match are the following: Sombrero + Cactus = Mexican, Headdress + Tomahawk = Indian, chopsticks + fan = Chinese, axe + log = Chopping, candle + matches = lighting, sword + shield = war, lock + key = unlocking, clock + hourglass = time, King's Fool Hat + Crown = Headwear, hammer + nails = hammering, Au + Ag = Metals, purple paper + pink paper = origami, bow + arrow = archery, pawn + knight = chess, envelope + stamp = posting, windmill + wheat = grinding, quill + paper = writing, horse + horseshoe = hoof wear, male icon + female icon = signs, tree + leaf = nature, goblet + pitcher = drinking, sailboat + anchor = sailing, moon + sun = planets, statue + breastplate = armor, half heart + half heart = whole heart and finally 2 Chinese signs. That's the whole list. I find all of those matches to be logical. All images make sense except maybe for the statue (chicken?) and the breastplate. I don't get that one. Hope that it helps and clears it for you so to encourage you to continue playing, :-)

Sorry for the longgggggggggg description. If you're not to tired Stephen, could you please give me your input about the installation folder I mentioned in post #57? If not, don't worry all is well. :-D

Thanks again and goodnight. God Bless.


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


Thanks for your feedback Weezie.

Did all you suggested before I posted (checking out yesterday's game posts as you suggested to another user). I do have the latest drivers installed, they are Intel divers though, and according to an online diagnosis I did from their webpage, I have the latest drivers for my computer already installed. I guess I won't be playing this game... DRAG...I so love mahjong!!

I tried getting into the forum...registered and all, but I can't find the latest 11647 topic string... it says it doesn't exist.

Monica


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


I haven't actually started a thread for today's game yet. you could stat one if you wish.

Very nice. Different from most match type games.You have combined my 2 favorite type games! Installed easily on Win 7. No issues at all!
Only thing in simple mode, I do wish it would automatically go to the next level. I figured it out after several rounds that I had to do that myself. It kind of makes the game a little flat. Other than that, it's great!

I would have replied sooner but I was busy playing this game. I wanted to write a thorough review after I had a chance to play it. I downloaded and installed this game without any problems on my win xp sp3. I began playing the game the minute it launched and have been addicted to it. The only gripe I have, OK 2 gripes is 1. no relax mode. I hate it when there's a timer and 2. more tracks on the loop playing. Some of that music grows tiresome after the 3rd loop through. Perhaps there's a way to add music to the folder, I haven't investigated. The play is smooth, I had no hang ups and the graphics are rich and the colors vibrant. I thoroughly enjoy this game even though there's a timer. I like the variety of games, it's not all match 2. My favorite is the swap, and I found myself earning my share of bonuses. Thanks GGOTD. This is a keeper. This MahJongg player gives it 2 thumbs up.


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

Thank you for your feedback Deborah.

You can change the music quite easily. Find the game folder, open it up and you'll see a folder called Sounds. Inside that is another folder named music. You will need a converter to convert your music to the ogg format. If you don't have one there are loads of freeware available.

Hi,

Another great download!! Had no problems on XP. Game has run easy and played a few levels. Have to get use to it, since not the standard mahjong.

Thanks again!!

UPDATE: I just got these two FATAL ERROR MESSAGES as I tried to get the game to work a couple more times:

As I tried to get it to work in window mode and not in Full Screen:

"Failed to initialize DirectDraw: RESULT_DISPCHANGE_FAIL
SetDisplayMode Full Screen: DDERR_UNSUPPORTED"

And then after hitting "accept" after I got the error message above, I tried to get in one more time and got this message:

"Exception: Access Violation (code 0xc0000005) at address 00564D18 in thread 1538
Module: GreatestPlaces.exe
Logical Address: 0001:00163D18

0012F848 00564D18 0001:00163D18 GreatestPlaces.exe
Params: 0000024C 00000290 0012F8E0 004970EA

StackWalk failed (error 299)

EAX:0012F730 EBX:09032FC0 ECX:00000004 EDX:0000000F ESI:0012F750 EDI:00000004
EIP:00564D18 ESP:0012F68C EBP:0012F848
CS:001B SS:0023 DS:0023 ES:0023 FS:003B GS:0000
Flags:00210212

Windows Ver: NT 6.1 Build 7600
DDraw Ver:
DSound Ver:

Product: Greatests Places Mahjong
Version: 1.0
Time Loaded: 00:00:17
Fullscreen: Yes
Primary ThreadId: 1538"

I have no idea what all this means... anybody got any ideas?

Thanks again,
Monica


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

Thanks for your feedback Monica. Yes this is now an easy problem to solve once I can see the error message received. You need to update your graphics drivers and install the latest version of direct X


XP - Direct X 9.0c

Vita - direct X 10.1

Win 7 - Direct X 11

you can get Direct X from Microsoft; however their site tends to be a little confusing as there are loads of different downloads that all look the d=same. I'd Google the one you require by using the key words Download Direct X (or DX) then the version number. I've explained below how to find out what your graphic card is and where to go to get the correct driver. Please let me know if either of the two fixes worked.

You can find out which graphics chip you have by typing dxdiag into the search field.

dxdiag opens up the Direct X diagnostics panel (see next image)

Open up the direct x diagnostics and click on the display tab. you will see which card or chip you have More than likely it will be either an NVIDIA or ATI (now called AMD).

Direct X diagnostics panel showing model of graphics card

Whichever it is, go to the developers web site and look for the driver link. you will find it on the front page. Just fill in the easy steps and then download the appropriate driver and install.

NVIDIA drivers page:

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk

ATI/AMD Drivers page:

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx



If that doesn't cure the problem try going into compatibility mode via properties (right click on the games executable) and then select compatibility from the tabs. Try disabling visual themes and/or display scaling.



If all these fails check out the FAQ's I posted in the game discussion forums:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/11647


p.s. If you have any trouble getting the correct driver let me know via the forums. Just post it in the thread I started for this game. :)

Good luck.

Heya Wabbit,

Installed perfectly on my Win7 64 bit here. Love Mahjong games. Beautiful graphics and i love the little "power cards" effect. I think you should be able to hoover over them to remind you WHAT they do as someone else suggested. You should be able to toogle it on or off once you get used to what they do.

Once again thanks Playrix and GGOTD for a great game and thanks to that Wrascally Wabbit for his review. I made it a short cut(desk cut on Firefox).

Sorry I haven't been commenting much..You know why and yesterdays??? I didn't even bother since I don't like HOGs. I have really tried to like them but all they do is hurt my eyes and neck more..

I know I owe you an email..I will try to get to it this week. I am so bad at emails anymore.



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

Thanks for your feedback Delenn, don't worry about emails. I'm sure when your up to it you'll write. :) I know how things are with you and empathise.

This downloaded very nicely as always. Thank you so much GGAOTD and also thank you Playrix!! I would buy this one. Had I seen it on their site, I would have snatched it up! The graphics are great, the music also. There are so many different levels but each stage has a different way to play so it is constantly changing up things. The hint timer fills up fast and also the great thing is the stage timer, I was a little worried about this having one, but it gives you ample time to think and find things.

I like the fact that with using hints it does not eat up your main time. This is just a great game. I like the fact that you can have a custom cursor or not.

I hope my thoughts are helpful to the devs if they see it. Thank you for the hard work everyone!

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

Thanks for your feedback Pixiey

Great game. Thanks. After the problems with yesterday's game it's nice to have a dependable one from Playrix.

A great Mahjong suite. The graphics are nice and the music is too.
Thanks GGOTD & Playrix.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mahjong games, so I'm really upset because I can't get the game to work!! I downloaded it without a hitch, installed it without a hitch, but when I try to play the game I get to the screen with "The Roman Colosseum", the coffee cup and pen, but the whole bottom half of the page is missing so I don't see the "PLAY" or "MAIN MENU" buttons (as per the screen capture above), so I can't play. I read the recommendations you gave, checked my graphics card and Direct X drivers, I have the latest versions. I unchecked the "3D" and "full screen" options in the OPTIONS section, but I still only get a half screen. I have Windows 7 32 bit, and have never had a problem with a game I have installed from this site before. I love the games I get from here! PLEASE HELP before the installation time is up!! Thank you, Monica

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

Hi Monica, try changing your screen resolution. Also check the FAQ's section over in the sticky section of the game discussion forums. I've linked to it in my review at comment #1

I like to give games a fair try because we ARE getting them for free, but I REALLY hated this one. On level 3, I couldn't figure out what most of the pictures were, so I couldn't begin to find their matches. And then when I asked for a hint, it told me what was matching the last thing I clicked on - but I had no idea what that was, so I STILL couldn't figure out what matched what. Cactus and sombrero.... hmmm. Sombrero is a hat in Mexico. Cactus is a plant in the desert. I just don't see why they matched. I tried to match the matches with the logs because I thought they were cigarettes. And I certainly couldn't figure out what most of those long things were that were probably swords or some other kind of weapons.

I thrive on frustration, but not like this. I uninstalled it after trying to play that level.

But I didn't have any problems installing it in the first place! :-)

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

Thank you for your feedback Barbara.

Tried to install it but it decided to install some other crap (software informer and/or freezb crap) instead. The game never did install. I uninstalled everything I could find relating to them but now Firefox has crashed about five times and keeps crashing every time I visit some web pages. Do you bother to test this stuff before releasing it? Sheesh.


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


Hi Kasha,

You appear to be relatively new to this project. Software Informer cannot decide to install itself. neither will installing the game giveaway install it. Software informer will only be installed if you allow it to. When the installation wizard for the game has completed and you close it down a new window that says successfully activated appears. You are asked if you want software informer installed as well (see image below). It is not installed unless you click on the button that says Install Software informer. What you should have done is click on close and not install software informer. Its an easy mistake to do. I've accidentally installed it twice since it first appeared about 3 years ago

I've highlighted the button that you obviously pressed without thought.

I'm sorry you feel hard done to, but it is entirely your own fault that software informer has been installed. Personally I think its quite a useful program as it will inform you if any of your software needs updating. It can easily be removed.

In answer to your last question, yes, all software is rigorously tested before it is allowed to be given away. The giveaway site has a top rated reputation with all the major search engines because its considered a safe site.

There has been well over 4000 software's given away since the giveaway project started back in October 2006 and in that time there has never been one software given away that was infected with malware.

When someone reports a problem it is usually the users fault; either through bad management of their computer or a misunderstanding like what you've had today. Granted there have been some games given away that have been coded badly and which have resulted in a lot of users having problems. Personally though I've only ever had a problem with one game giveaway (probably because I keep my computer up to date, defragged and clear of malware) and that had a known problem with what was the primary OS at the time (XP) . I've downloaded virtually every game apart from when I was on vacation (and even then if I took a laptop I'd still download a game) or when I had a stay in hospital five years ago

I want to be a little more clear about my virus alert from Norton 360 (the latest version #20.2.0.19) in my post at #56. My Norton quarantine file says:

"Setup.exe (SONAR.Heuristic)detected by SONAR" In the information section of the quarantine screen it says "Suspicious behavior detected."

So it is the setup file that Norton doesn't seem to like for some reason.

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

As mentioned in my previous reply, yes it is. setup.gcd is a security file, which is why Norton thinks its a threat.

Norton 360 -- the latest version -- is on my XP computer and it would not allow installation of this game. Said it was a possible Trojan horse. I've had this happen a few other times with GOTD--but in the past it has always been with screen savers. I tried installing it three different times and each time Norton 360 quaranteed it. I'm sure that Whiterabbit is correct--it is the install file that Norton doesn't like. It happens so quickly after I click the setup icon, that it can't possibly have time to find a virus within the actual program.

Nevertheless, I feel confident that GGOTD is safe software and I appreciate all the great stuff I've gotten here. Just wanted to confirm to Whiterabbit that the apparent problems poster #2 encountered have been repeated with my anti-virus software too.

I'm pretty confident that there would be no problem if I took it out of quarintine, but, then, it would be a stupid thing to do since I already have a number of mahjong games that I've bought.

THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT PROGRAMS YOU'VE OFFERED OVER THE YEARS. THIS IS THE ONLY FREE SOFTWARE SITE THAT I CHECK EVERY WEEK! (BTW--Using ALL CAPS because I AM SHOUTING about this great site)! Thanks again.



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



You should be able to configure Norton to allow the game to be installed. Norton is notorious for doing this. There is definitely no malware. What Norton is probably detecting is the security file 'setup.gcd' Once the game has been installed that can be deleted.

Today's Mah-jong game is a little different to other Mah-jong games I've played (I have around 30 of them) so is well worth getting. you could always download the MyPlayCity or Gametop versions as they don't have the setup.gcd file, so Norton will probably allow the games to be installed.

Do remember to uncheck the toolbar checkboxes etc. I'd go for the Gametop version at the moment because MyPlayCity are a lot more aggressive re toolbars etc at the moment.

Thank you for this one. I have been a member here for a few years and really just want to say thank you for all the great games you bring our way. I am in my fifties and a bit worried about the memory retention as you get older.. so i have just started playing Mahjong..This game has great graphics and is nice to have different games within the game.. Love it and will be passing it on to family..


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

:)

Hello everyone,

Downloaded and installed the game without any problems on Win7 x64. Contrary to some comments, it gave me the choice of directory (file path) and even installed a shortcut on my desktop and in the start menu.

(BTW Stephen, a tech told me recently that all downloads/installations should be done in the "Users" folder. What do you make of that? I thought for years that downloads should be made in the Program Files x86 and that's where all my downloads went before this laptop. Sorry for being off subject.)

As far as I can see, there's 20 levels per stage. It's easy enough, the usual Mahjong strategies. At the beginning it shows you what you have to do such as, finding same tiles, or opposite tiles, or matching 2 objects, etc but after a few levels, you have to guess what you're suppose to look for (pairs, objects that belong together...). I guess it's no big deal but can be a bit confusing. At least it was for me. Sometimes I would click on tiles that I thought could be removed but they couldn't. Not sure why but anyway the game is still enjoyable. I don't know if it's just me but, some levels I had to shuffle up to 12 times and more. Another thing I noticed is that if you click on a tile by mistake, you can't un-click it. Again, no big deal, just thought I'd mention these few things.

I've been wanting to ask this for a while but didn't have the nerve. Now I'm daring. Please don't take this the wrong way as if I'm ungrateful cause I can assure you, I'm not.

To the point...I thought that games offered here were games that are free for the duration of the giveaway but games you would otherwise pay for. Is it not? If it's not than case closed. But, if it is, I don't understand why sometimes games offered on the giveaway are sometimes freeware. Although most of the games offered here are usually sold. But it's happened a few times. This one for example, as you mentioned in your post #1, this game is offered at Gametop and MyPlayCity all of the time.

I'm just curious and would appreciate some clarification if you don't mind. Either way, it's an advantage for us. More so, cause here, I know for sure that there's no malware or any junk in the files. Another advantage is that if you miss the giveaway, you can always go on a site to download it which only applies to the games that are freeware of course. So you see, I'm not complaining just wondering. Inquiring minds want to know :-D

Thanks a lot GGOTD and Playrix for this offer. Have a great week everyone :-)


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

Hi Weezie,

Thanks for your excellent feedback.

In answer to your question, all games given away here are commercial games and not freeware. The games you get from Gametop, MyPlayCity and other similar sites are not actually freeware. They are under licence. By that I mean those sites pay the developer a premium to be able to give them away. Those sites earn their cash via the toolbars/ browser hijacks and other methods. That pays for the games plus makes them a hansom profit. You will find all of the games on those sites still being sold on commercial sites like Alawar, Playrix, Gamehouse and Big Fish Games.

A fun game, I like the variety of games. Plays well on my computer

Thanks GAOTD--this is a fun keeper with different twists. Game downloaded fine on Win 7.

Hmmm... another one that doesn't like my W7 machine. Must be something to do with my video card, I had the same problems with Between the Worlds from a few weeks back. I managed to enter my name but then can't proceed as the play buttons won't display on my screen. Windowed mode won't stick, I select it in options and it unselects. OTOH it worked fine on my husband's machine. I will install it on my laptop (which is what I did with Between the Worlds) as I would like to have it.

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

Hi lonnih

Do you know what your video card is? If you aren't sure I posted some info in reply to a comment from yesterdays game. It's easily found as i posted a couple of images showing how you bring up the direct X diagnostics panel which will tell you (via the display tab what model your video card is.

Have you tried un-checking 3D acceleration via the options menu. Also, check my FAQ's over in the Game Discussion forums (you'll find it in the Sticky section).

Right click on the games executable or the shortcut and select Properties. Firstly make sure the Run as Administrator is checked then click on the Compatibility tab and disable visual themes and display scaling.

One of those may fix the problems you are having.

There are other fixes such as turning off DEP. you'll find info in the FAQ's (not the one in the main forums)

Installed beautifully, and runs very smooth ! I always trust GGOTD and our Moderator - and am especially happy when Playrix games are offered ! Question : Where in one's computer should one keep an eye out for this Conduit ? Just for future reference, you understand ! Thanks again GGOTD ! It's nice to have safe and usable free games to download !

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

Hi Twenty Cats, Conduit is usually packaged with freeware downloads. Some of the well known download sites may package it with some of their freeware. You will get a warning via check boxes so it can easily be avoided by un-checking the boxes (that's what really annoys me because its an opt out not an opt in - they rely on users not keeping an eye on their downloaded files while its installing. It's not malware per se, but it does harbour software that keeps a track of your browsing history and phones the info home as well as adding toolbars to your browser; you then may get pop ups suggesting other sites to visit. It's basically a clever (but annoying) advertising trick. Some would call it malware, but you are allowing it to be installed by keeping the checkboxes checked. If you read the EULA you'll find referencew to the legal side of it.

p.s.

It took me ages to remove all the registry entries that it had installed. You also need to search the App Data folder (a hidden folder) as well (by un hiding the hidden folders - that's easy enough by going into folder options via the control panel) to ensure no hidden executables are there and clear your registry of all traces otherwise the software will be reinstalled. They are pretty crafty as they want to keep an eye on your habits.

Once you've made your hidden folders visible, you'll find App Data in your account folder which is usually found in the right hand column (for example my computer is named Whiterabbit) so I click on Whiterabbit to open the account folder where you'll see folders like downloads, My Documents My Music etc ;-) Once you've located the App Data folder you need to check through all three folders that are usually found there (Local, LocalLow and Roaming)

Nice game! The variety of match-3 patterns adds interest and playability--except for the Find Non-Match mode, which is just tedious.

One suggestion: Tool Tips should pop up when you mouse over power-up tiles, with reminder of what each type of tile does.


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

Thanks for your feedback.

Good idea re: the tool tips I reckon once you've played it for a while you'll get to know what they do so a toggle in the options menu to turn tool tips on and off would also be a nice addition?

What I'd really love to see is a Mah-jong game that included these solitaire games plus the traditional four player game with computer or real opponents (I have a four player game called Hong Kong Mah-jong that's brilliant, but it would be even better if it had some of these solitaire games as well. :D

Unlike yesterday's giveaway, this one installs flawlessly on both a virtual win 8 and a "real" win 7 (both x64). I sort of like mahjong matching games, but this one has several variants that I have not seen before. it has already occupied a whole hour today -- very addicting. Unlike some other Playrix games this one forces a 4:3 aspect ratio and does not stretch the playing field out. It's one of their best efforts. In today's market $20 is pretty steep for a game of this type, but it may be worth it.


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

Thanks for your feedback Doc

This game installed very easily on my Win7 Premium 64bit. Registration was easy and the graphics are very nice with a smooth gameplay. This one will stay on my computer for a long time! I enjoy playing Mahjong when it's been a long day.....I think of it as Brain Calgon. (American iconic culture joke....there used to be a commercial decades ago about a harried mom who takes a bubble bath with Calgon soap and says "Calgon, take me away" and she is whisked away from all the chaos to a peaceful world....egads, I'm really dating myself! LOL)

@Mod: Yes, this one is much better than yesterdays offering. AND, I've downloaded PLENTY from this site. Troll doesn't know what he's talking about because this is a VERY clean site with no nasty Computer Cooties!!!! HUGE THANKS for ANOTHER virus-free, great game!!!


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Thank you for your feedback Dawn

Great thanks to Stephen for his work:
I'm very happy to read this, which requires alot of effort.
Your extensive work makes life much easier.

I love Mahjongg games, and this is definitely a keeper.

One question left:
Some pictures have german texts.
Did I miss an option or how did you do that?

Regards,
nXL


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Hi nXL, No, about 10 of the images I used were from the net. I then took about 20 more images when I got the game installed, which I uploaded to my photobucket account. About half of the images in my review above are ones I took the rest were from a Google image search. I should have mentioned that, but forgot.

@34
"Also it never gave me a choice of file path… to install just unzip to temp folder and RUN".

I just open the Zipped folder and drag the .exe file and the gcd.setup file to the desktop and run them from there. It's only good for one day, so you can delete the files after installing.

I have been playing Kyodai Ma-Jhong for many years and haven't found another one that comes close. This will probably be as good, as it is from Playrix, and they just simply make good games.


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I'll check that version out to see what it's like. Thanks.

I fixed it I turned off Norton Anti-virus auto protect and the program came up with the installation options. It's a very nice game. But it wasn't getting rid of the temp files it was norton.
I just hope there is no backdoors or viruses on this!


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Hi Linda, these games are checked thoroughly. The giveaway team would lose a lot of community members if they started to include or allowed malware through. They have a very good standing with the major search engines because of the clean site.

p.s wasn't ignoring your last post, just had a few hours sleep.

Fun game no problems on installing game! thx!!!

What do I do now...
This is a new install of windows?

To help clarify what I think is happening with the AV warnings:

Most AV programs look for programs that act on other programs/files in unexpected ways. As the setup.exe unpacks or in other ways executes/works on the setup.gcd file, the AV thinks it is acting in a virus like way and complains. If you have any private info (finance details, company secrets) that might be problematic when shared, let the AV program work - follow its suggestions.

If not, stop only the AV not the firewall part of your security system a few minutes to install.

Norton complained on my machine, for the first time with GAOTD or GGAOTD in quite a while. Seems the packing has changed so Norton and others may take some time to have it work through systems,

WHENEVER you install new software from a source you do not know/trust on a computer, there is a chance that some deep backdoor is installed.

My experience is that when I am paranoid I can tighten the firewall part of my security, and I have a chance of stopping such malware.

For this site, I have not over several years had any software try to cause mischief. Had some odd IP limitations/hoops, but what to expect when people are giving you their hard work for free to try (and get feedback on). They do not want to have it free forever to everyone who gets a copy.

:-)

Best




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Thank you for your feedback Thaijay

Installation went smooth under Windows 8 although the extraction process took a little longer due to the protection system in place otherwise I had no problems.

This is one of the mahjong games that actually takes pictures and asks you to match the likeness of the objects in order to clear the board. Only previously did classic Chinese tiles allow just matching of different seasons, and other titles and now they took the concept to the whole set of tiles. As expected Playrix cut no corners creating this game and it shows because of the sound track and the excellent graphics the game presents.

Under Windows 8 per usual, create a folder on the desktop. If you are in the Start Tiles View, on the left hand side of the tile panels, click desktop and then extract the files to a folder of your choice. In desktop mode on the bottom left you will see the familiar E icon and the File Manger icon to the left. Click on that icon and you can browse to the folder you created.

So far the easiest way to remove the program from Windows 8 is to go into your Start Tiles menu, find the icon for this game, where you can right click it, and a whole lot of options appear on a bar that pops up from the bottom of the screen including Uninstall Program.

Hope this helps some people on Windows 8 as I've been hesitant to blog recently due to questioned compatibility between the GOTD Wrapper and Windows 8 64 Bit but no change was noticed and things worked out the same as they had before.


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Thank you for your feedback Little Bear

Thank you for this one! I never liked mahjong very much, but this explains every game, is easy to use and easy to read and fun to play and after installing it I looked up two hours later and decided to say thank you for a completely absorbing game. There was one typo in the into screen; I think it was "the." all alone on its own line, and I thought it might belong to the next sentence.
Excellent game 10 0f 10.

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Thanks promytius

And another addicting game - thank you very much!

love this game...seemed to download slow (win8)but plays great. I had trouble for the first time ever with yesterday's game.

I've not seen this one before, but I am a fan of Mahjong in any format, so thanks to Playrix and GGOTD for this.

Regarding malware, everyone downloads the same file, so if one gets malware, everyone should get it. As no one else complained of a virus or other malware, it's easy to see that it didn't come from here.

thanks, love playrix games, never have a problem installing them or playing them. If you see it's a playrix game, download it!

To #32, #33, #34 Linda: Assuming you have the GGOTD download, the choice of file path DOES appear when you run the install program, AFTER you 'just unzip and run.'

To Stephen: I've installed this under Win7 64bit and it refuses to go into windowed mode. It seems to accept the setting happily, but on close and reload, it's back to full screen. And when you try a second time to switch full screen OFF, the game refuses with a message saying Windows must be in 16-bit or 32-bit colour mode to be able to do that.

I've checked, and my onboard Intel graphics definitely reports it's running in 16-bit mode, at a resultion of 1300-odd×866-ish. This is on a Compaq laptop which is maybe three months old. Any idea what's happening; and is there a 'hack' to force the game into windowed mode?

Thanks in advance.

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Hi Cad,

Hmmm strange, I also installed it to a Win 7 64 bit and had no trouble. you may be able to force it into windowed mode if you can open the games executable; I can't see a configuration file in the games folder, so I guess opening up the exe file is the only way (but you'll need a good editor for that), unless you can find a registry entry that allows you to change the configuration. Usually changing a value from 1 to zero would force it into windowed mode, but I don't know the coding. There are better qualified community members such as Mike and GMMan (not seen GMMan for a while though) that may be able to help.