Treasures of the Serengeti

When Asha returns from her journey to ready herself as Shaman, she finds her village in ruins. Help her find the Treasures of the Serengeti, and rebuild the village piece by piece with the old chief. Use your jigsaw puzzle skills to master the match three boards and earn what you need to restore the village and lift the curse that drove everyone away. Combine various skills to complete your tasks and restore the Treasures of the Serengeti.

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This match three game will have you moving to the beat of the Serengeti as you collect the Treasures of the Serengeti. Rebuild pieces of the village to earn automatic bonuses. play mini games to restore the music to the village. Play level after level of increasingly difficult levels to gather magical gems to restore your village. Earn bonuses as you go to make your tasks easier.

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The music of Treasures of the Serengeti brought everyone to the game to see what it was. The boys had a great time listening to the various instruments we collected, and moving with the beat! The combination of jigsaw puzzle pieces and match three brought a new dimension to this game that made it challenging and fun. Treasures of the Serengeti brought a fabulous bouncy soundtrack to our house, and we loved the interactive instrument feature that let us learn about some new instruments. We are giving this game a definite thumbs up!

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Happyville: Quest for Utopia

Start on the ground floor and design your own city with Happyville: Quest for Utopia. Plan out the city as it grows to provide the services that your citizens need to keep them happy. Take the initiative to grow and anticipate the needs of your citizens, and build freely. Can you handle the ever changing situation and challenges of this simulation game? Find out as you construct the city of your imagination in Happyville: Quest for Utopia.

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 Happyville: Quest for Utopia starts you in the middle of
an empty space, with a city hall as your only building, as it teaches
you how to build houses and businesses to keep your ever growing population happy. As your town size increases new buildings, civil services, and decorations become available for you to use. As Mayor of this fine city, you will receive requests from different people and groups and must choose how to respond to them.

  Happyville: Quest for Utopia peaked every one's interest,
but is designed for solitary play. The game continues to run, and the goals change as you meet them. Plan carefully before building anything as it is for the length of the game, and there are no levels to finish. If you are looking for a free form, sandbox type of game play to design your city, Happyville: Quest for Utopia is fantastic! With the ever changing goals and needs of the towns people, this is a game that will allow for hours of creative play that you can return to at any time.

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Architect: Episode 1

Architect: Episode 1

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Get serious about building the cities of the future in Architect: Episode 1. Plan out new towns, and keep the community happy be putting in restaurants, playgrounds, schools, and more in this strategy game. See if you can achieve the highest population, and move on to the next level. Show off your city planning skills with Architect: Episode 1.  

Try out a new type of city building with Architect: Episode 1. Plan out how to achieve the highest population by strategically placing the houses and their services. Arrange and rearrange your town without penalty to try out different layouts and see how they affect the population of your city.

  Architect: Episode 1 is similar to the Build-a-lot series in that you are constructing towns. Relax and enjoy this game since the time limits are removed, and the game is more of a puzzle to solve than a time to beat. Architect: Episode 1 did not really interest the boys as it was not such an action based game. I enjoyed the strategic planning and testing of placements that this game allowed for, and found it much more engaging than the time management versions of city building games. By the way, it does offer an advanced mode if you need even more of a challenge!

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Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

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It is your job to set up cities and start providing the supplies that the citizens of Ancient Rome need to expand the empire. As you learn to produce more goods, you will attract new citizens to be trained. Meet your goals and you will be rewarded with your own land and materials to build your house among the nobles. Make a name for yourself and get noticed by the emperor of Ancient Rome. Ancient Rome is a strategy time management game that will put you to the test with it's fast pace. Learn to build increasingly valuable homes and set up production lines for food and clothing. Meet early deadlines to be rewarded with extra valuable materials for building your home. As you build up your career, the emperor will assign you more and more difficult tasks. See how high you can climb the ladder to success within the ancient Roman empire!
I found Ancient Rome to be a nice game, albeit a little simplistic for my tastes. The boys were intrigued by the flurry of activity on the screen, but until they understand the concept of production lines, I think this game might be just beyond them. I found it important to remember to start my water production immediately upon beginning each new level, and then look at my goals for that level. All in all, I really liked Ancient Rome for older kids through adults, and teaching kids some simple city management skills.

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Big City Adventure: Vancouver

Big City Adventure: Vancouver

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The family is back and ready for Big City Adventure: Vancouver. Explore Vancouver from the comfort of your own home in a fun way. Learn fascinating facts and pieces of obscure history about the city. Search through multiple levels of hidden objects to earn momentos of your sight seeing. Exciting minigames challenge you between levels in Big City Adventure: Vancouver.

Big City Adventure: Vancouver offers an exploration of the fantastic city of Vancouver in Canada. Search through dozens of beautiful scenes for cleverly hidden objects. As you use your hints, you are given the chance to find new ones in the next level in the form of gold coins. Search for other gold coins for additional bonuses. At the end of each level, enjoy a minigame that challenges you to reveal the next location. Read a postcard of interesting history and unusual facts about each location you visit.

  Big City Adventure: Vancouver is another excellent game from Jolly Bear Games. We absolutely love the Big City Adventure series. These hidden object games are full of friendly images, and cool facts about each location. I love that we get to learn all these neat tidbits while we are having fun playing games! The kids and I all highly recommend adding Big City Adventure: Vancouver to your library of computer games today!

For extra materials such as screensavers, wallpaper, concept art,  as well as an integrated strategy guide and a bonus mini-European adventure check out Big City Adventure: Vancouver Collector's Edition.

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Epic Adventures: La Jangada

Epic Adventures: La Jangada


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 Epic Adventures: La Jangada takes you back in time to the end of the 19th century to take part in a story based on the Jules Verne novel, 'La Jangada'. Help Minah as she searches for clues to unravel the past of her father and save him from a death at the gallows. Gather the evidence that is scattered across the Jangada as is floats along the Amazon. Discover the truth and save Joam Dacosta with this hidden object adventure.

Epic Adventures: La Jangada is a wonderful game that pulls you into the storyline with beautiful images and words. You are greeted by Minha as you open the game, and she remains the narrator of the story throughout. Use you keen eyesight to follow through her story, as you find hidden objects to relate to each part. Solve intriguing puzzles as you help her to puzzle out the mysetry of what her father's past contains, and what evidence will save him. 

The first thing I encountered upon starting Epic Adventures: La Jangada was a place to insert my name, but it could only be five letters long. I loved the fact that Minah narrated her story, but I had to adjust the sound effects and music to be quieter so that I could hear her voice. After playing through several beautiful levels, the soundtrack suddenly glitched and there was a obnoxious ticking noise for the rest of the game. Although there is no innapprpriate content, the boys were not intersted in the storyline. Despite these small drawbacks, I thoroughly enjoyed playing Epic Adventures: La Jangada.

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Hidden Expedition ® - Devil's Triangle

Hidden Expedition ® - Devil's Triangle

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 Hidden Expedition ® - Devil's Triangle  A member of your team went down in the Bermuda Triangle last week. It is up to you and the HEAT (Hidden Expedition Adventure Team) to find her.In an unforseen twist, you find yourselves trapped on an uncharted island. Uncover the secrets of colorful characters you encounter, as you solve puzzles to free yourself from the mysterious hold of the island.

Find hidden objects in order to start puttting together the secretive mission in Hidden Expedition ® - Devil's Triangle. Gather up your supplies, and fix up broken machines as you get underway to search for the missing member of your team in this Hidden object Adventure game. Feel free to click everywhere, as there is no click penalty, and explore your surroundings to find the items you need to solve the puzzles. Several clues are availble to you if you get stuck, and they refresh so you need not worry about running out.

Hidden Expedition ® - Devil's Triangle is another marvelous adventure in the list of Hidden Object Adventure games created by Big Fish Studios. I love the way they have built pieces of the other games in to this one.. most noticably the beetles from the Amazon jungle that are powering your submarine.  Hidden Expedition ® - Devil's Triangle is another game I can recomend for the whole family. Another adventure of a lifetime awaits you!

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World of Zellians

World of Zellians

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Royal feuds are dividing the kingdom, bringing production and building to a standstill in the World of Zellian. Concentrate on uniting the kingdom and rebuilding as you organize your cities and bring happiness to the kingdom in World of Zellians.

World of Zellians places you in the middle kingdom to start your journey as a student learning the art of building productive cities. Journey through nine kingdoms, rebuilding cities and uniting kingdoms. Construct your towns to serve the needs of the citizens and the kingdom. Learn what production buildings the stores need to run. Manage your materials, gold, and residents as you organize your cities. Earn special trophies as you complete each kingdom. 

The boys and I were thrilled with World of Zellians. The characters were creative and friendly, and the world was cheery and colorful. The dialogs led us through an entertaining storyline. World of Zellians is a game that the boys were begging me to buy because we had so much fun with it. I can't wait to get to the free play option to see just what we can design in the kingdoms on our own! A great strategy game for the whole family to spend time with!

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Hidden Mysteries: Civil War

Hidden Mysteries: Civil War

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 Hidden Mysteries: Civil War Go back in time to the Civil War. Visit each battle scene in the year they happened and follow the war as it actually took place. At each battle scene search for hidden objects to reveal secret letters and other clues. Relive the personal defeats and triumphs of three key figures from the Civil War. See the victorious flag wave over each battle scene you complete in  Hidden Mysteries: Civil War.

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 Hidden Mysteries: Civil War gives you a glimpse into history. You will visit the battles of the Civil War one year at a time. At each battle scene you will be given a list of objects that you must find. Notes and letters open when found to allow you to read the historical content. Several of them must be decoded before you can read them. You are always given three hints at the beginning of each year, and you may earn more at any time from the map screen. You must defeat a "minesweeper" type board to earn each additional hint. Play in timed or relaxed mode.

We loved Hidden Mysteries: Civil War! The main screen is a map of the states involved in the Civil War and a year at the top. Each battle for that year is marked at its location by its name and an object that represents the area. After you have completed a scene the flag of the victorious forces waves above the location. The boys loved looking through the scenes and seeing the flags when we were done. Hidden Mysteries: Civil War is an excellent way to spice up your knowledge of the Civil War! A must have for all families!

Plants vs. Zombies

Plants vs. Zombies

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Your brain is being sought after by zombies in Plants vs. Zombies; luckily you control an arsenal of plants to come to your defense. Defend your home by turning your front lawn into a garden of defense. Plant pea shooters, potato bombs, and cherry bombs during the day, and fill your nights with puff-shrooms! Overcome obstacles such as a swimming pool, creeping fog, and tombstones in your yard. Use your green thumb to fend off the onslaught of zombies as you protect your brains in  Plants vs. Zombies.

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Who would have thought that you could use plants to defend your house and yourself from zombies?! This is exactly what you get to do in Plants vs. Zombies. As you survive each wave of zombies, they leave something for you...most of the time it is a useful plant seed to add to your arsenal. Choose you favorite plants before each round to defend yourself. Collect suns to buy more plants during play. (Hint: plant sunflowers who produce suns to buy seeds faster!) Each plant has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each zombie does too. Watch for their patterns, and position your plants accordingly!

I thought I would hate Plants vs. Zombies since it is filled with "zombies and killing", but I really enjoyed playing it. The storyline of zombies did not appeal to me, but the boys didn't seem to mind it, and they loved the various plants that you could buy, and what each of them did. Their favorite? The venus flytrap type plant that ate the zombies, of course! Personally, I loved the walnuts and the sunflowers... but neither of them were for destroying the zombies! I was having such fun with Plants vs. Zombies' addictive game play that I did not even want to stop long enough to write this review! Back to my arsenal of plants!

Legacy: World Adventure

Legacy: World Adventure

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Help Emily King win the Grand Adventurers Expedition in Legacy: World Adventure. Follow your family legacy and captain your newly built airship across the world. Challenge your match three abilities and your factual knowledge as you race for the correct destinations. Can you identify the mystery location before the other adventurers? Find out how well you know your facts, landmarks, and flags of countries around the world in Legacy: World Adventure. 

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Legacy: World Adventure will test your knowledge as you use your match three skills to solve different styles of match three games for clues to your unknown destination. When you think you know what country to head to, choose and find out if you are right. Learn more facts about the destination country, and find out where you rank against the other contestants in the Grand Adventurers Expedition.

Legacy: World Adventure is the perfect blending of three types of match three games and the challenge of identifying countries from some basic facts. Once you have correctly identified the country in question, you are rewarded with more facts about that country. Legacy: World Adventure is the perfect game to stir up intrigue of locations around the world. The boys enjoyed the match three, and thought some of the facts we read about various countries were really neat. This makes a great game to add to a learning library!

Kitten Sanctuary

Kitten Sanctuary

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 Kitten Sanctuary  Aliens have invaded Kitten Island. Rescue kittens from alien traps and build up a Kitten Sanctuary in four different loacations to keep your new rescues safe. Using your match three skills, destroy the aliens invaders' traps, collect supplies, and gather coins to purchase new toys and more. Spend some time playing with your new furry feline friends between match three levels to keep them happy. See if you can rescue all the kittens, supply each location, and defeat the aliens in Kitten Sanctuary now!

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You will fall in love with the goofy, furry felines of Kitten Sanctuary. This match three game will provide you with all the simplicity or challenge you require. Choose from untimed or two levels of timed. then choose whether you want the tiles to drop straight down, or pop in dynamically, making for unexpected results! Clear the energy from the board, collecting supplies and money as you do, to rescue the kittens. Return to the Kitten Sanctuary to pamper and play with your kittens.

 Kitten Sanctuary has become a favorite in our house. The ability to play in a untimed mode has quickly made this a game that my boys love to play. Couple that with goofy kittens to rescue, learn about, and play with, and the boys are in kitten heaven! I love the fact that you can switch in between modes at any time by going to the main menu and clicking on Game Modes. Kitten Sanctuary is a great game for the whole family to get a lot of fun play time with!

Real Crimes: The Unicorn Killer

Real Crimes: The Unicorn Killer



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Real Crimes: The Unicorn Killer Based on the true story of the Unicorn Killer from almost forty years ago, hone your investigative skills finding hidden objects and solving puzzles. Travel the world as a rookie FBI agent, under the tutelage of a veteran detective, in Real Crimes: The Unicorn Killer.

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Walk through scenes of Real Crimes: The Unicorn Killer, and explore the world of Ira Einhorn, the self proclaimed unicorn. As as rookie FBI agent, choose to play as a rookie (untimed), or as a detective (timed mode). Walk through scenes from the real investigation, and look for hidden objects. Step into the FBI crime lab to solve puzzles and earn more hints. Travel around the globe and follow the investigation all the way through the extradition!

Although I was not really looking forward to walking through a real life murder, Real Crimes: The Unicorn Killer was an excellent game. The walk through was very informative, and felt as if the facts were quite true. (I was quite young when these events truly happened.) I would not recommend Real Crimes: The Unicorn Killer for young children, but for high school age and above this is quite an educational experience. 

Plan It Green

Plan It Green



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Keep Earth Day going every day as you step into your new role as mayor of your hometown and start to Plan It Green. Rebuild the natural beauty of your hometown as you research and introduce new ecelogical thinking to it. Bring green upgrades to existing homes and businesses, and build new eco-friendly homes and businesses. Will you be able to turn the city around and earn energy credits and happy residents? See how easy it is to be green as you beautify town and Plan It Green today!

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Have you wondered how you can make a difference? Unsure why an energy credit is good? Plan It Green puts you right into the middle of figuring out the best way to beautify your district, get your residents and your businesses to go green, find new ways to create green energy, and keep it all within a budget. Learn to research new green ways of doing things, and plan how to implement them to attract new residents, and beautify the town. Build or upgrade businesses, facilities, parks, and houses to achieve your goals.

National Geographic brings us this terrific time managment game where we get to decide what changes to make to Plan It Green. I love the play on words that the title uses! "Plan It" (Planet). This game is very much like the popular Build-a-Lot series, in that you are building and upgrading various parts of town. Plan It Green adds in all the environmentally friendly ideas that we researched and are able to use today. Make upgrades to old houses to make them a bit more green friendly, and earn energy credits for saving energy. Build new eco-homes to make room for new residents, and really think our what is best for our planet. This is a fantastic game to really get you thinking about going green, while having a lot of fun!

John and Mary's Memories

John and Mary's Memories



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John and Mary's Memories  has you joining John and Mary as they travel around the world after John's retirement. Match like souvenir cards in order to earn souvenirs on your travels, and move on to the next location. Learn interesting tidbits of facts about each location you arrive at. Send postcards of your travels back to friends and family in America as you travel, and find out if you can unlock all of John and Mary's Memories.

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Match souvenir cards, and clear each level to move to the next location in John and Mary's Memories. At the beginning of each level, learn intriguing historical facts about each location. Every five levels work through an increasingly difficult memory mini game. Unlock souvenirs for different bonus actions, and send home postcards to friends and family of your travels. You will have the use of hints, shuffle and draw pile cards on every level. Work through increasingly difficult matching levels as you progress around the world.

   
This is a really cool game for exposing yourself (or your children) to some basic historical facts of various locations around the world as you work through unlocking John and Mary's Memories. The colorful pictures of the cards attracted the boys' interest, as well as the cool jackpot cards during levels, and the colorful fireworks displays at the end of levels. The beginning started out fairly simply, but quickly worked up in difficulty to provide a enjoyable play experience. I recommend  John and Mary's Memories as an enjoyable, simple matching game filled with fun and interesting facts of historical locations around the world.

Romopolis

Romopolis


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Build a society in ancient Roman times with Romopolis. Build necessary housing and services to keep you citizens happy. Upgrade buildings and introduce new conveniences as you expand your empire. Colorful game play will inspire you to become a great leader, earning fame, honor, and riches along the way as you build your way through Romopolis.

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Romopolis is a strategy game that places you back in the days of ancient Rome, being called to serve the Emperor as an architect. Design and build cities to the Emperor's directives, earning money and honor, and the hearts of the people you care for. Bring convenieinces to your citizens to make them happier and willing to pay more in taxes. This colorful game even has a sandbox mode so that you can design your own game!
   
Romopolis reminded me a lot of Build-a-lot, but done with structures and sounds associated with ancient Rome. The boys came to see the game, but were not drawn to play Romopolis. I think it reminded them of a simple Pharaoh, Cleopatra, and Ceasar III, which they enjoy playing several times a year. We love these games for the way they make you plan for what you will need, and allow you to make mistakes to learn from!