Lost Lands 8

I’ve played Lost Lands 1-8. The games are interesting and have a great continuing story line. I’m giving it 4 stars because I have noticed that as the games progressed from 1 to 8 ,there have been some bugs in the programming that sometimes make it impossible to complete a puzzle. You finish a puzzle but despite it being correctly done, it refuses to “complete “ and let you move on with the game. (I always check on several different gaming guides to make sure I did the puzzle correctly ) So you have to use 10 of your points to skip the puzzle just so you can go on with the game. For example, identifying the aphids under the microscope in Maaron’s study. Even though it was particularly easy, it would not let you continue after the correct solution. Also, someone who is a native English speaker needs to go through ALL of the dialogue, including the specific names of items. While it is not difficult to figure out what they meant to say, it is often sadly hilarious. ( a “spikelet” isn’t even a word in the English language, they are referring to a “wheat stalk “ )

This is an amazing adventure puzzle solving game. I have played all 7 and working on 8. I love the depth, difficulty and the immersion. There are a couple things I’d like to see the developer change though and I’ve had these problems with all of these games. On my iPhone, sometimes things we need to find are hidden behind the displays on the screen (like the coin display top right). I end up having to waste a hint to realize the object is behind the display. Then I end up tapping and tapping trying to tap the object without tapping on the display (which is difficult with fingertips). I’d need a pen especially for my phone. It’s frustrating. Also, some things I have to pull down are at the very top part of the screen so when I touch them and pull down, I end up pulling down my Lock Screen instead. And some things are simply not visible because they are cut off and I can only see the bottom of the objects or they are hidden behind the displays. I realize this game was probably intended for a desk or laptop but it’s available for phones. It’s just not very compatible with the screen functions or display features.

The story is a great addition to the series. It has a nice variety of puzzles and hidden object scenes. It makes the game enjoyable, and keeps it from feeling tedious. I also appreciate that the character is smart enough to hold on to her knife and assorted tools rather loosing them after every scene and having to locate replacements (common trope from other developers). I did have to use a couple of hints because there is a part in the game (In the centaur village) where I was unclear on the next task. Perhaps because F2P games are on hard mode and you get less clues. Also, some of the click areas when picking up objects or activating actions were very small and I missed them. But overall these were minor issues and did not detract from the overall fun.