Gamertell

It’s a good week for people who happen to be Big Fish Games and PlayFirst members. Whether you’re a PC or Mac owner, if you love Breakout and Alleyway style games it’s a good time to invest in a PlayFirst PlayPass. Two action games in this vein, Pirate’s Treasure and Enchanted Forest were debuted on that site this week, and both are for Macs and PCs. As for Big Fish Games members, they will all get exclusive access to two new games, Youda Legend: The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond and Escape from Paradise 2: A Kingdom Quest.

It’s also been quite a busy week for hidden object games. The Mac and PC game Rangy Lil’s Wild West Adventure, for example, has been popping up all over the internet. Not to mention a Mac version of Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst also made its debut.

This week’s best bets are: Avalon for PC and Rangy Lil’s Wild West Adventure for PCs and Macs.

Rangy Lil’s Wild West Adventure
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow, Fenomen-Games
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista, Mac 10.4 and 10.5
Premise: Rangy Lil, the star of Pecos Bill’s traveling circus, has learned her children have been kidnapped. The kidnapper is none other than her ex-husband and their father, an outlaw named Bob. Rangy Lil has to take a leave of absense to search throughout Arizona to find her children.
Demo Available: Yes

Youda Legend: The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Game Club (members only)
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: There’s a curse casting a dark palor over the city of Amsterdam, and it’s up to the player to find a way to break it. The only way to successfully do so, however, is to scan through numerous locations, searching for rare, hidden objects.
Demo Available: Not to the general public.

Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Mac 10.4 and 10.5
Premise: Ravenhearst Manor is still cursed and plagued by all sorts of ghosts and supernatural entities. The player must set things right by solving hidden object puzzles.
Demo Available: Yes

Pirate’s Treasure
Genre: Action (Breakout/Alleyway clone)
Availability: PlayFirst
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista. Mac 10.4 and 10.5
Premise: Break blocks and other assorted items to find lots of treasure, and perhaps even the lost pirate treasure.
Demo Available: Yes

Avalon
Genre: Strategy (Time Management)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: The Fairy Kingdom is facing overpopulation issues, and it’s up to the player, as the Fairy Queen, to successfully manage Avalon’s population and makeup so the garden and its residents can all live comfortably and happily.
Demo Available: Yes

Enchanted Forest
Genre: Action (Breakout/Alleyway clone)
Availability: PlayFirst
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista. Mac 10.4 and 10.5
Premise: The good fairy has been captured, and players have to save her by bouncing a ball against blocks to set her free from evil spirits inhabiting 100 levels.
Demo Available: Yes

Time Gentlemen, Please!
Genre: Adventure
Availability: Zombie Cow Studios
Retail Price: £2.99/$5
Platform: Windows
Premise: A point and click adventure game that continues what happened in the free game Ben There, Dan That. Ben and Dan did some time traveling and they’re now the almighty rulers of the entire Earth. Except along the way, 6 billion zombies popped up. Not to mention Hitler and a dinosaur clone army. Ben and Dan have to try and fix things again.
Demo Available: Yes

Escape from Paradise 2: A Kingdom Quest
Genre: Strategy
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: You create an island native and set off to create a functioning village and society so you can marry the person you’ve fallen in love with. It is the sequel to Escape from Paradise.
Demo Available: Yes

Dream Sleuth
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Catherine has been having strange dreams about a lost little girl. She then learns that the little girl is real, and her dreams are trying to guide her to save her. Players help Catherine investigate hidden object puzzles to find the clues to save the little girl.
Demo Available: Yes

Family Mystery - The Story of Amy
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: GameHouse, RealArcade
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Amy is looking through a family album to find clues to uncover the stories of her and her family’s lives.
Demo Available: Yes

Create a Mall
Genre: Simulation
Availability: PlayFirst
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Like the title says, you create a mall. Kelly has access to barren malls, and it’s up to her to fill them with stores and other interesting entertainment options. You can even show off your success by purchasing new items for Kelly and her office.
Demo Available: Yes

Trial of the Gods: Ariadne’s Fate
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Mac 10.4 and 10.5
Premise: Complete match 3 puzzles to help Prince Theseus save Princess Ariadne from the Minotaur.
Demo Available: Yes

Enlightenus
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Game Club (members only)
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: In order to help a reclusive author complete his books and find his muse, a detective has to travel to Enlightenus and search for missing manuscripts.
Demo Available: Not to the general public

Time Machine: Evolution
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: PlayFirst
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP
Premise: Solve match 3 puzzles to travel through time and uncover the past and future.
Demo Available: Yes

DinerTown Detective Agency
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: PlayFirst
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista and Mac 10.4 and 10.5
Premise: Solve 25 mysteries in DinerTown with Bernie the Bookworm.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade]