Recent reviews by IFIYGD

Absolutely enjoyed this DLC content.
Instead of a new map, you are working for/with a drilling company or their drilling rig.
You will visit all of the maps from the base game (no Pale Reach stuff).

The story is weird (in a good way), and you meet new characters that you have to interact with on the rig.

New fish, new equipment, new dangers, and a smug corporate chad you and the crew on the rig have to deal with and outsmart. And a truly mad scientist who drives the main story, and throws in a creepy twist at the end.

Like the base game and The Pale Reach- you are going to grind to complete the quests. But you can also just chill and go fishing- just watch out for the new dangers in and around the oil slicks. The game can be confusing -upgrades and what fishing set-ups to use for specific fish, and what new bait types to have the Factory make for you to catch certain types of fish are a puzzle at times- and at the time of this review there aren't many good guides here on Steam or online that give you the info that isn't obvious in the game. There are some good Lets Plays on YouTube that can help, but you'll have to dig through to find the right ones, depending on what exactly you need to know. The community here is half helpful, half edgelord. Welcome to Gaming™, lol.

I have no problem with the price, I have put 15 hours into the DLC at the time of this review, and probably have another hour to fish all of the aberrations for the final achievement. I did get a small discount for having the base game and The Pale Reach DLC (bundle discount). For me, the money was well worth the experience I had, I absolutely recommend it if you enjoyed the base game, even more so if you enjoyed the Pale Reach DLC. The game shows the love and passion the devs put into it- and I look forward to their next game. Or their next DLC for this one- I want more!

First thing first- I am not a veteran of the Jewel Match games. I think I have the first 2, and haven't played them for years.
So the mechanics and the way things work in the game wre pretty much brand new to me when I got this one.

Why did I get it?
Dracula, and it's Halloween.
Simple as.

I am finding the game to be really interesting, and a bit more challenging than most casual Match 3 games, and I like that.
There are tutorial levels, but it's really more like "Here's the thing you need learn, have fun figuring it out!". It's a tutorial that needs tutorials, I guess? Or you need to be familiar with how other Jewel Match games work? Not great if you are a first time player, IMHO.

Anyhow- I am enjoying the game, and seem to have found a bug or exploit to getting Collectible Cups pretty quickly.
No, I am not going to share it, since the devs may fix it and it may not work any longer when you read this review.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3356275996

***Accessibility***
The Strategy Guide is very long winded, and often a tad confusing.
May cause issues for some folks.
Some graphics effects are flashy and could be an issue for folks with certain neurological conditions that are light or photo-sensitive (like epilepsy or light-sensitive headaches or eye conditions like MDF Dystrophy).
Not great for low-vision folks- some of the text is very small, some of the graphics effects are hard to see (nets) even with the slider the devs added to allow for darkening or lightening the tile background colors.
The colors of two of the different pearls in the Pearl Rooms are going to be hard to tell apart- lavender and brown are very close together, and may cause issues for people with some forms of colorblindness.
There are audio cues when certain things drop that you need to click on quickly to collect (coins, mainly) that could make some aspects of the game difficult for Deaf or HoH players.

Not the most accessible game, which is a tad disappointing for what is supposed to be a casual game.
YMMV, of course.
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Overall, I am enjoying it, but if this is your first Jewel Match game, you may have to deal with some frustration trying to figure out how things work.

No Trading Cards right now, and the game is still in the "Steam is learning about this game" phase at the time of this review (meaning achievements won't count toward your overall achievement count yet, and can't be used in a profile Achievement showcase). It's hard to tell if the game will reach the Steam metrics needed to change this. But it's a good game, well suited for short play sessions.

(quick edit to fix a formatting error)

Fun little point & click mystery puzzler game.

I love the art style- stylized, and very clean- timeless style that ages well.

Lots of back and forth, but not too long into the game you will get a map that can be used for fast travel.

Some easy and obvious achievements, some missable and very easy to miss. The game isn't long, so playing through a second time to get them isn't bad, or *if* you created saves in the right places you may be able to load older save to go back and pick them up.

Some funny easter eggs that give nods to other fairly well known games in a similar genre. Good humor in the game, if you like somewhat dry, sometimes almost cringy teenaged boy humor. (Middle-aged woman here- and I cackled a few times, when the protagonist reminded me of my own son, who was overly serious and a bit nerrdy when he was a teenager. Hell, he's an adult now, and still overly serious and nerdy. Love you Michael! :D )

***Accessibility***

No colorblindness settings, no UI or text scaling- some fonts used on notes and such are not going to play nice with a screen reader, and for colorblindness you will have to rely on machine system settings.

No audio needed- no audio clues, though some sounds do give certain scenes a "punch" , but the subtitles for dialogue and labels on items you can interact with that are needed for the puzzles are pretty good- should be playable for Deaf and HoH gamers.

Some of the puzzles are a bit vague and can be frustrating because you have to go from place to place and do things in a certain order to solve them or progress to the next step. Could be frustrating for people with certain types of neurodivergencies.

No timed puzzles or interactions, so you can take your time and you don't need to worry about button mashing.

Can be played with mouse-only.

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A hidden gem for point & click lovers and puzzle game enjoyers here on Steam. Full price may be a bit much for people who get stuck on the $$$/hour metric, but a steal at 90% off like it is right now (time of review). Likely to go n sale again i you missed it this time. Personally, I would be fine with full price- I enjoyed it a great deal (and I am not financially strapped). If you have a tighter budget, wish list it and pick it up on sale.

Absolutely recommended- like I said, a hidden gem here on Steam.

Recommended with caveats.

The game starts with a warning about photosensitivity- this is important for people with photosensitive neurological conditions and some vision disorders. There are flashing lights, areas of extreme brightness or darkness, and sequences where the screen will white-out making it hard to see where you are moving the character.
UI contrast is not so good- white text or icons that get lost on bright or light colored backgrounds.

There are very few settings to adjust things- no colorblindness settings, no UI scaling, no UI contrast settings, no resolution options, no VSync on/off. The game is locked to 30 (31) fps, and the camera can be a bit jerky at times.

The voice overs do not always match the dialogue text on screen in English. A few words missed here and there, nothing that changes the meaning of what is being said- the native Spanish version is much better, if you are fluent in Spanish.

That all said:
The music is fantastic- moody, charming, calming, energetic, dark- changing to suit the scenes and story well.
The art styles are quite good- both the comic style used in cutscenes and the stylized almost psychedelic style used in the playable game world.

The puzzles are tangram-style puzzles (fit shapes together to fill in a space, but not classic tangrams) and logic puzzles that can feel a bit trial and error at times. Which was fine for me- it suits the theme and context of the game. Confusion and uncertainty go with playing an Alzheimer's patient- you are seeing the world through his eyes.The puzzle difficulty progresses at a reasonable pace- some are quite tricky as you go on.

"Alpha Snowflakes" be advised- there is a strong LGBTQ+ theme that runs through the game. Not with the main protagonist, but with his daughter Enid (who is not the protagonist- not sure why "female protagonist" is in the user-defined tags, but LGBTQ+ is not.) If LGBTQ+ stories trigger you- you'll want to avoid this game, it might upset you. :)

Th story seems to be well researched as far as Alzheimer's symptoms and treatments go, and what someone with the condition or someone caring for a person with the condition may experience. The game is quite surrealistic at times- I have family members who had Alzheimer's and eventually passed from its effects. I found it both enlightening and concerning that this *may* have been what the end of their lives was like- wandering through a confusing world filled with things they could not understand, created in their on minds, and could not escape from. Yes, the game made me weep for them many times.

TL;DR- the game has some Accessibility issues. It can be an emotional roller coaster if you know or are related to anyone with Alzheimer's. The UI and controls are not great, but the game ran quite well on an older gaming desktop, no crashes, no stutters, but expect it to feel like what it is- a port from an older console.

I did enjoy the experience, even though it was quite emotionally draining at times. Buy on sale, and know what you are buying before you drop $$$ on it.

Very much a Dave Gilbert game.
If you have played and enjoyed others, you'll probably enjoy this one too.
The puzzles aren't difficult, just very long, with a lot of steps, a lot of back and forth between locations and dialogues.
Make lots of saves, lots. There are a few spots where you can get softlocked if you make the wrong choice in a dialogue choice. Having a save at the start of that sequence to reload and start over again is much better than having to play the entire game again to get back to that spot. Autosaaves help, but may not always let you load back to a spot that will take you less time to replay. The game lets you save anywhere, with no apparent limit to the number of saves you can create. So use that feature.

If you want to get all achievements in a single playthrough- be sure to turn commentary on before you start the game at the beginning. It will have spoilers, but also some funny bloopers and info on small details and lore. If you don't want spoilers, play through the first time without commentary, and turn it on for the second playthrough (where you can also pick up any achievements you may have missed the first time).

There is a "supposed to play the games in *this* order group thought among some players. I played out of order and have no regrets, Each game is a stand-alone, so you can play them in any order, though some of the backstory and lore may not make as much sense. You do you and make your own decision on what order you play the series of 5 games in, or if you just want to play one or a few of them.

It's got some good snarky humor, that very familiar WadjetEye/Dave Gilbert art style and flow to it. I absolutely recommend it and all of the other games by WadjetEye/Dave Gilbert. But they are not for everyone- so YMMV.

Casual-challenging Match 3 game.
3 different puzzle styles- you do not get to choose which puzzle style you play, the game alternates between them in a set manner.
Relaxed Mode has no timer, Regular Mode has a timer and time bonus associated with it (more challenging). There is no Steam Achievement for playing in timed mode- so the choice is purely up to you.

Your main goal is to earn coins to buy buildings to restore a destroyed village.
To get 3 stars on each level, you need to fill a meter in the upper left corner of the screen to light up the stars. It's more about making more matches or larger matches to fill the meter faster.
There is no shuffle option or power-ups to buy- you get one power-up on each level that fills up as you make matches, and the game automatically reshuffles if you are out of moves (with a somewhat annoyingly long pause before it reshuffles).

Graphics are a bit childish and basic, but IMHO, they are fine for a game like this.
Music and sound fx are basic and what you will find in other Match 3 puzzle games.
The story is basic and not deep- but it's a Match 3 game, not a narrative-driven RPG.

***Accessibility***

Very few settings in the Options menu.
There are no settings for colorblindness modes- you will need to rely on system settings on your machine.
Some colors are not well contrasted (for example "click twice to clear" tiles that are yellow-gold over light tan- the colors are very close and can be difficult to tell apart).

No font or UI scaling option, and some font is small-ish and may be hard to read. The font color may be difficult for people with certain forms of colorblindness in places (medium brown on a tan background)

Can be played with one hand, mouse only.

No voice acting- no problem for Deaf or HoH players.

People who have vision impairments will be the most affected, IMHO. Check contrast and color settings using the screenshots on the Store page to determine if you can see things well enough to play without difficulty.

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All in all, it's a fine Match 3 game, with the usual things.
You will need to replay levels to get 3 stars on every one.
You will likely need to replay levels to get all collectibles needed for some achievements (the collectible you get for completing a level is random, not set per level).
You will grind if you want to 100% the game, just like in every other Match 3 game.

Runs without issue on an older Windows 10 machine, no compatibility mode needed. Window 11 may need to use compatibility mode. Should run on a toaster.

Full price feels fine to me, but if you have a tight budget, wait for a sale.
(quick edit to fix typos)

If you enjoyed Regency Solitaire I, you'll probably enjoy Recency Solitaire II.
It's more of the same, but with new power-ups and a new story.
Don't expect a deep and intricate story- that's not how solitaire games work 99% of the time.
But it's fine- some of the colloquial British English may be confusing and isn't going to translate well if you are using an outside translator. But it adds some humor at times, and you may learn a few words you never heard before.

Standard solitaire gameplay- some layouts are quite easy, some are quite difficult. Expect to replay some hands multiple times. You can play the majority of the game on Normal (which lets you replay hands without penalty) and finish up on Hard to get both achievements. Or you can punch yourself in the face and play on Hard from the start. There are tips on how to replay hands without penalty on Hard mode on the forums.

The story-after-the-story (Collector's Edition Content) is much easier ( 6 hands vs. 10 hands), and no chapter goals that need to be met. You can buy everything in the shop and still get the achievement for 50K gold in hand, unspent, by playing the Collector's Edition Content and aiming for 3 stars on every hand until you have the gold to pop the achievement.

Accessibility

Options are pretty basic- sliders for sound effects and music, fullscreen or windowed, tooltips yes/no, tutorial yes/no, custom cursor yes/no, and plain cards yes/no.

Everything is text based, no voice acing- so perfectly fine for Deaf and HoH players. You won;t miss anything important if you have no music or sound effects- neither impacts gameplay.

Text is fairly large and in an easy to read font, but there is no text scaling option. I did test with a screen reader, and it read things just fine, though it did fumble the pronunciation of some of the more obscure colloquial English words. results will vary, of course, depending on which screen reader SW you are using.
Use the Custom Cursor- it is larger than the standard Windows cursor (but it's still a bit too small, IMHO).
Use Plain Cards to have easier to see cards with just a large number or letter on the card- the more decorative cards with character images on them have very small numbers or letters and may be difficult to see.

No colorblindness options- depending on the type of colorblindness you have, it could be an issue- you will have to rely on machine system settings to adjust the colors.

Game can be played with one hand, mouse only.

Suitable for short session play, you can exit the game and come back h where you left off later. However, if you want 3 stars on each hand, and accidentally hit "Next" instead of "Retry" on hands you didn't win... there is no option to replay only selected hands. You will need to replay the entire chapter. Don't rush- make sure what you are clicking.

All in all, if you enjoy solitaire games with a decent (if slightly old-fashioned British culture) story- it's a solid game. If you are looking for Zachtronics type gameplay and puzzles- move along. This isn't it. Full price seems fine for me ($/hr. is less than $1/hr.), but waiting for a sale is an option. The game will be around for a while, "no need to buy it now!" (though I am sure the devs would appreciate it if you do buy it now, lol).

Ran fine for me on a slightly older laptop, no crashes, no bugs. YMMV, but it should run on a taoster.

While this might have been an enjoyable and easy HOG/HOPA when it first came out, the fact that you cannot run it in true fullscreen makes it difficult and frustrating to play. Using launch options to force fullscreen at a resolution matching my monitor (2560 x 1440) did nothing but stretch and pixelate the images to a point where they became blurry and unrecognizable. And every Hidden Object scene has been an frustrating pixel hunt to find the exact spot where you have to click to get the item.

Unless you are a true retro gamer with an old 4:3 aspect ration CRT monitor- pass this up.
I got this in 2017 as part of a super cheap bundle on some bundle site, and never tried playing it until now. I understand that at some point you could actually play in fullscreen, but on a 16:9 aspect ration monitor, you only get a tiny little rectangle, which makes tiny object so small that you need a magnifying glass up against the monitor to see them. I cannot recommend this game at all at any price.

I do love the art style, and the stories that go with the quests are very well done.
The main story is a bit harder to put together as you are completing quests, but it starts to work itself out as you go.
(Please note- I am not yet done with the game, 3 quests left to go, then the final ending.)

Yes, there are political commentaries or "morals to the story" that go with each quest. Some are a little more obvious than others, all are presented as part of the quest story- not in-your-face, but there for you to interpret if/as you choose to. Very "Brothers Grimm" type of stories- fairy tales with messages hidden in them. Somewhat dark, with *mostly* happy endings.

The "puzzling" aspect of the game is really not much of a thing. You really don;t need to solve any complex puzzles- the game will tell you what you need to do and where you need to go for each step in each quest.
The quests are intertwined, you will have to go to new areas and start new quests to complete others, which can be very grindy.

Yes, the game is very grindy- fetch quest after fetch quest, with a lot of back and forth between areas to collect crafting ingredients or quest items. If you don't like fetch quests and heavy grind- this is not going to be the game for you.

Again, the art style is fantastic.
The snarky humor throughout is really good, if a bit cringe-worthy at times. But even the cringy humor made me laugh.

The controls are a bit clunky on kb/m, but you can rebind keys. I did not try the game on a controller, so I have no feedback to give on whether controller is better.
Some actions and interactions give you lots of time, others do require more precise timing, but nothing terribly twitchy. You'll take damage from some enemies if you don't move fast enough- make lots of health potions if you move slower like I do.

There are some flashy graphics which could be an issue for folks with light or flashing light sensitive conditions- there is no setting to disable these things. Some mild strobing on certain maps (graveyard in particular)- again, no setting to disable this.

No settings for color-blindness, and there are quite a few color combinations that could cause issues for some people. No settings for color-blindness modes. You will have to rely on machine system settings for this, and the testing I did saw mixed results with Windows 10 Accessibility settings.

The music is fun, but a bit repetitive at times. I didn't mind it, but you can adjust the volume if it bothers you.

The back and forth, heavy grinding, and sometimes annoying need to go back to a distant map to get one item to complete a quest step on another map may make this a bit much for some folks who like or need completely logical progression. It kept the game interesting for me, but could be an issue for people with certain forms of ASD and for folks with ADHD.

The way quests are tracked and the way progression was shown (or not shown) as I worked through quests was my only real gripe, and some of the crafting is overly-intensive (complete these steps to craft this item that you need to craft this item that you need to craft *this* item). Crafting could be more simplified to let you craft "final items" if you have all of the ingredients you need to craft each component part.

Overall, I am enjoying it, will finish it, and have had no issues with bugs or performance issues. The game does have a good save system that saves on exit from the menu, so it is suitable for short sessions if time to play is limited. But don't expect the puzzle-solving to be deep or complex. The game is more about the gorgeous art, the clever and beautiful world that expands as you go, exploration, crafting, and the stories each quest tells. It is cozy, and dark at the same time.

Full price is fine for me, but I can afford it, Wait for a sale if you aren't sure.
(quick edit to correct typos and correct formatting errors)

I cannot recommend this game, for a number of reasons.

The game *is* visually pleasing, with a pleasant art style, the story seems to be well-written, and the game runs well on a Windows 10 machine with no tweaking needed (no need to run in compatibility mode). That said:

Accessibility is bad.

Very small text, difficult to read, even at 2560 x 1440 . No Text or UI scaling options. Only resolution options (max is 2560 x 1440).

The game uses several different fonts, some of which are hard to read, not screen-reader friendly

Possessing light fixtures, exiting memories and changing scenes causes bright flashes and blinding white light- not flashing, but potentially an issue for people with light-sensitive seizure conditions or migraines.,
No brightness or gamma settings to tone this down, either.

No colorblindness settings (you will need to use machine system settings to adjust the colors), and there are a number of places this could be an issue for people with certain forms or colorblindness.

The controls are odd and clunky. You need to use both mouse and keyboard, so this could be an issue for one-handed gamers.

Playing the default mode requires some careful and precisely timed movements to prevent being caught and seen by the family, though you can play story mode, which removes the stealth gameplay aspect (making the game a purely interactive novel with very limited detective-type of "find _this thing_ and read it" clue-finding gameplay.

Many emotionally sensitive subjects are covered in the story, which may cause issues for people who have experienced certain types of family or personal trauma.

The game may have felt new and fresh 11 years ago when it was released. but it feels like it was trying to be and to do too many things at once, failing at tying them into a compelling and engaging experience. The story is well written, but I feel like the "possess light fixtures to move through the very small house" just feels strange, and seeing character memories in such small text that is hard to read- so you miss it and miss what you are supposed to be looking for pulls you out of the story and makes you go into your journal (?) to figure out what the game want you to do. You are limited to moving through a very small house- you can see outside, but can't go out there, and the small area and number of rooms in the house means you will see the same things over and over and over. It makes trying to complete the story and choose one of the ending very tedious, which IMHO does a disservice to the actual story/stories you are reading and learning.

If you enjoy stealth gameplay, you may enjoy the game more than I did- I could not find it in me to finish the game. The tedium, clunky controls, and difficult to read text just took me out of it. YMMV.