Don't glance at our 3 out of 5-star rating for this game and write it off as a waste of time - on the contrary, we had fun with Ice Cream Mania - but it plays just like the other five dozen time management games available today. In the end, it's simply an average yet entertaining downloadable diversion that, at the very least, is worth playing the 60-minute free trial.

In the comic book-like presentation you learn that ice cream magnate Henry Rich has died, leaving the family to fight over his wealth. But according to Rich's will, each of his two daughters must start a business from scratch, and whoever makes the most money within a year will inherit the entire family fortune. You play as Cindy, whose honorable intentions are to keep her father's ice cream legacy alive, while her greedy sister simply wants her father's cash to spend it frivolously.

As you can tell, Ice Cream Mania starts out with a promising premise, but the developers don't run with it. In fact, you don't hear about the other sister while you're playing the game, therefore you lose your motivation to keep going. It would've been great if additional cut-scene story sequences showed your mean sister's progress to help give you more incentive to win. Ah well.

In the game-play department, though, Ice Cream Mania, while predictable, is fun. Not unlike Cake Mania-style restaurant games, here you're in charge of an ice cream stand and must serve ice cream to suit a customer's taste. Customers will belly up to the counter and a visual representation of what they want can be seen about their head. So after you give them a menu you might see that a headphone-wearing girl wants a yellow scoop of ice cream (lemon gelato?) in a regular cone and with chocolate sauce. In this case you'll click the yellow button on the ice cream machine (instead of blue, red or green), then click on the appropriate cone from a list of cones and cup styles, and then on the topping station select the brown button for chocolate sauce instead of vanilla or strawberry. Give it to the customer before they lose patience and they'll leave a tip, which you'll click on to pocket...

This time-management game gets you involved into the race for the fortune. But, of course, there's so much more than that.

So according to the story you are one the two daughters of an ice cream magnate Henry Rich. According to his will you need to compete with your sister now for the wealth he left.

The one who will eventually run her own business most successfully will get the entire father's fortune. But it's all about money for the other sister only, not for you. Your character isn't like that - she wants to keep her father's business alive. While your sister is doing it just out of her greed and desire to get the cash...

Natalie Brooks - Secrets of Treasure House brings to life the story of a young woman who has inherited her grandmother's house. Join Natalie on a journey to unravel the mystery of the house and find the treasure contained therein. Meet a series of characters along the way that can help you discover the secrets, though beware - not everyone has Natalie's best interest at heart. Act fast, because the city has plans to build a road right through the property!

Similar in some ways to the hugely popular games like Azada and Dream Chronicles, this adventure mystery puzzler is graced with beautiful graphics and an immersive storyline. Bringing together several popular genres, Natalie Brooks - Secrets of Treasure House offers something for almost every gaming taste, whether you enjoy hidden objects, logic puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, adventure, or mystery.

The story line unfolds via a series of comic strip screens and also through the interaction between Natalie and the characters she encounters on her quest. I found the tale very intriguing from the search for the hidden treasure to the revelations about the other character's hidden motives. The tale was engrossing enough to make me want to keep playing just to see what happened, though it could have been enhanced with a clearer translation of the text into English. The ending was rather abrupt and left me scratching my head a bit. Several things were alluded to in the story but never explained or finished before the game ended.

Each "level" consists of a scene in which you use the mouse to interact with the objects. Clicking on an object can add the item to your inventory for later use, cause Natalie to give you a hint about it, or add important information to your notebook. At times you will need to use the items you've picked up to interact with other objects on the screen. For instance, in one level you need to locate and collect some batteries that are scattered around the room. Once you've collected them, you can use the batteries to activate a robot that will then lead to another clue. You are also given a magnifying glass that is quite useful when you need to look at an item for a closer inspection.

The main drawback of this game for me was the poor language in the text. It's doubtful that English is the primary language of the developers. The grammar and spelling errors detracted from the flow of the story - especially during the dialogue between characters - and also presented certain unnecessary challenges within the hidden object mini puzzles. When marketing to a primarily English speaking audience, it would behoove the developer to invest in decent translations...

MAIN GATE
Postcard pieces (1) on the left side of the gate, at the bottom. (2) On the bottom left side, on the grass.
Use the key on the gate to open it.

MANSION
Postcard pieces (1) side of the mirror (2) right side, on the side table (3) right side of the wall, on the sconce.
Click on the statue of the man holding the rifle, on the left side of the scene, and it will expand. Pick up the money, that is at the base of the statue, and it will go into inventory.
Click on the table that is to the right of the mirror and it will expand.
Click on the blue letter and it will expand. (To make the letter small again, click on the outside of it)
Click on the telephone to enlarge it and dial the number that is on the pad, under the word "lawyer" (354-75-62)
Click on the map that is located on the chair that is on the left side of the scene.
Click on the map once it moves to the bottom right side of the screen.

HENRY EDISON'S OFFICE
Pick up the postcard pieces (1) top left side, on top of the cabinet (2) right side, on the last shelf of the cabinet.
Click on the box that is on the desk and it will expand.
Grab the lion amulet and the magnifying glass from inside.
Click on the amulet, it will go next to the brown book for now and will not be used until much later in the game (lower right side).
The game will then ask you to click on the magnifying glass which will take you to the hidden object game.
You can play the game or hit cancel to exit the game.
The hidden object game does not need to be played in order to move on in the game. It is mostly a means to obtain extra hints when needed.
There is a plug on the left side of the cabinet, click on it to pick it up.
Pick up the CD that is in front of the CD player.
Place the plug in the outlet, next to the CD player.Place the CD in the player and Mr. Edison will go to sleep.
Click on the bird cage and the shawl will automatically go into inventory.
Click on the trash can that is under the desk and it will expand.
Grab the rock music CD that is inside and then get the keys that are on the floor next to the trash bin ( the keys will count for 2 pieces)
Put the key on the lock of the top cabinet (right cabinet) once it expands, grab the pen that is inside.
Place the second key on the lower right side cabinet.
Click on the drawer again and once it expands pick up the bird seed from inside.
Grab the bird seed and click it directly onto the parrot. (some dirt will fall on the floor)
Take the shawl from inventory and place it on the small mound of dirt on the floor and a key will appear. (The mouse pointer has to be on the dirt itself, not the shawl)
Place that key on the drawer that is on the top left side of the scene and a key puzzle will appear.
The solution is RANDOM, mine was 3-4-2-1 and on another occasion it was, 1-4-2-3 and also 4-1-3-2. However, in order to solve it, all you have to do is make sure that all keys stay in the middle.
The best way to figure out which key goes first, is to press all four keys.
The one that stays in the middle for the longest amount of time will be the first one you will need to press.
The key that goes back to its original position the fastest is usually the last one in the combination.
Click on the cabinet that is on the top left side. Once it expands, click on the petition with the red seal.
Place the "Rock" CD into the CD player and Mr. Edison will wake up.
Give him the petition first and then the pen...

Natalie Brooks: Secrets of Treasure House. Secrets is an engrossing seek-and-find adventure game in which you play as the title character. When her grandmother passes away, she travels home to tend to family business, only to find herself wrapped up in a mystery surrounding her house and bloodline.

The gameplay is more challenging than most hidden object games because there are numerous adventure-style puzzles to solve. As you travel through the town, you'll meet many different people, including a corrupt cop, a museum archeologist, a smuggler, a lawyer and more. Some of these people want to keep Natalie from discovering the secret inside her grandma's house. As you visit each location, you have to collect certain items to make other objects work. Many mini-puzzles are located throughout the game, too...

Natalie Brooks: Secrets of Treasure House is revolving the leading lady bruks, keeps a section mystical line of sight style Xie Mi with the grandmother which launches for hers inheritance manor plays.

This does the game picture and the similar work compared reduced the full feeling, appeared more has orderliness. Has the cartoon color the character illustration and exaggerates the effect to the person by the intense card dielectric. And includes this makes the unique bank, the office, treasure house and so on the rich scene.

The background music style cheerful relaxed or melodious is humorous, the vivid sound effect also has the good effect, in brief as soon as changes the mystical terror old style of the line.

Natalie Brooks: Secrets of Treasure House has very high seat of honor, seeks the word and secret room the law everybody all extremely to be also familiar. Discovered did not know is plays BUG or the design arrangement, cuts from the secret room solution riddle to the word checkpoint selects the cancellation again, then obtains a time of prompt opportunity...

Say goodbye to your significant other, drop the dog off at the kennel and prepare to kiss your free time goodbye... Slingo Quest Hawaii, latest in the multimillion-selling series - and the first and best to successfully fuse the two all-consuming pastimes of slots and bingo - is finally here, and it's about to rearrange your entire life. Just one caveat: Much as newcomers can't help but be charmed by the outing, series veterans should expect simply incremental, not revolutionary, gains over past iterations, making it a welcome, albeit hardly earth-shattering upgrade.

The reason we put forth such caveats? Both much and little have changed since the last installment, depending entirely how you look at it. Core gameplay remains largely the same, as the action essentially still consists of several randomized spheres that appear beneath a grid-shaped, bingo-style card filled with numbers lurking above. Your chief goal once again: Given just 20 spins, pair as many of these digits with figures contained in the column directly atop them in hopes of creating horizontal, vertical, diagonal or patterned matches (slingos) that stretch across the entire board.

The main differences here since prior romps simply being as follows: A sizable number of new settings (e.g. coral reefs, sunken ships, and islands ranging from Maui to Oahu); fresh bonuses (which let you see power-up-containing tiles or instantly fill entire rows); and original play elements (i.e. collectible tricks and added game modes), which definitely add to, but don't tremendously boost enhance overall enjoyment factor.

As always, production values remain sky-high, from brilliantly animated and brightly-colored boys, girls, turtles, talking Tiki-men and other catchy background elements to point-thieving devils who cackle with glee and the chubby-cheeked cherubs who chase them away. The learning curve couldn't be simpler for all ages either, and the game slowly but steadily adds new twists and turns (such as spins you must pay for, score-boosting/-halving treasures, hyper-fast Speed Slingo or challenging head-to-head Slingo Volcano variants) as it progresses...

Popular game Slingo Quest returns for a different destination. In Slingo Quest Hawaii, the game takes on a (what else?) Hawaiian theme. In the bingo slash slot machine game, players try to match numbers in a row while earning power ups, jokers, tricks, and bonuses to help them along the way.

Players travel from island to island in Quest mode similar to many of the time management games where trails contain dots indicating your progress. Classic Plus mode works like arcade mode where players repeatedly play the game.

The game relies on luck and little else to get Slingo, five matches in a row. However, you win bonuses for making patterns and clearing the board. The hardest part is clicking the numbers, picking power ups, and using tricks. Otherwise, the game takes little effort. Those who like Slingo Quest will delight playing this tropical edition since it contains more of the original plus new features...

HACKENSACK, N.J., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The fresh, floral air energizes you. The warm, tranquil waters refresh you. The breathtaking, natural beauty renews you. Aloha, welcome to paradise where you can relax and unwind with the latest creation from the minds behind the award-winning casual game Slingo Quest(TM). Slingo Quest Hawaii(TM) is being produced by the casual games publisher Funkitron, Inc. and the digital interactive entertainment company Slingo, Inc. This Slingtastic new game has something for everyone; whether you're a seasoned Slingo Quest(TM) player or new to the combination of slots and bingo, you're sure to find fun and entertainment with Slingo Quest Hawaii(TM) with over 60 levels to explore in this Hawaiian-themed casual game.

Go island-hopping and discover fun new twists to the classic Slingo game, while collecting as many points and Hawaiian-themed postcards along the way as you can. Travel around Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe, The Big Island and areas specific to Slingo Quest Hawaii(TM) like Sunken Ship, Coral Reef, where you can play a huge 7x7 reef board with lots of Slingo Coins to find, and dark and mysterious Pirate Ship Island.

Expect new twists in Slingo Quest Hawaii(TM) like Slingo Tricks which can be played like magic spells before a spin. Some examples include "Match 3 Numbers," "Match the Pattern" and "Extra Joker." The new Tiki Joker can match an entire row or column and gives you an automatic Slingo! Players can also find the elusive Powershot that matches 4 extra numbers at once.

With two modes of play, Quest and Classic Plus, in addition to new exciting elements like Wild Squares, Cherub's Treasure, which doubles your score, and more, this new version of Slingo Quest really takes the game to a new level. Players of the first Slingo Quest(TM) will recognize some familiar lovable Slingo characters with a few twists to them and a few new ones like the competitive Tiki guy, all set in a gorgeous Hawaiian setting. The classic Slingo female cherub is back to giggle, cry and laugh along with the player during their entire adventure. The joker still helps the player match more numbers on the Slingo board and the cowardly snickering devil is there to take away the player's hard-earned points, darn that devil...

Museums tend to be rather quiet, studious locales apart from the occasional grade schooler visits (and, not counting the events of Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller). But, not today. All h-e-double hockey sticks has broken loose at the National Museum of History following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that rocked the city. In fact, it's a frantic room-by-room search and rescue in Escape the Museum.

What started as a warm, beautiful day for Susan Anderson and her daughter Caitlin ends in disastrous suspense when the museum where Susan works is shaken to its core. While able to secure Caitlin safely within the museum, Susan herself is knocked unconscious by falling debris and wakes to a catastrophic shambles. Afterwards it's a frenzied hunt to recover important artifacts while escaping from a maze of debris-barred routes on her way to reunite with Caitlin and flee the devastation together.

In a blend of adventure-style conundrums and hidden-object gameplay, a la Azada and the Dream Chronicles puzzlers, your task in Escape the Museum is to help Susan navigate the crumbling structure by solving a series of 25 object-based puzzles and locating a collection of varied artifacts strewn across some 60 seek-and-find levels. However, it's more than just a string of posers. The game's puzzles and object hunts are knit together via an engaging story, presented in cartoon-style graphics with audio voice-overs, that follows Susan, location-by-location, through the museum. Conversations are handled using a walkie-talkie, cell phone and by e-mail through Susan's handy PDA, which also provides a map of the building.

Object-based puzzles are predominantly of the find-and-combine-items-to-escape-the-room variety. For instance, at one location you need to search a darkened area. This requires a flashlight, which, of course, needs batteries. Other objects nearby include a knife and walkie-talkie. The solution? Open the walkie-talkie with the knife and put its batteries into the light...

Escape the Museum is an utterly fascinating adventure/hidden object game for Windows/Mac that reaches into room escape territory for inspiration. You play as Susan Anderson, a museum curator showing her daughter a dinosaur exhibit when a fierce earthquake rocks the building. Falling debris knocks Susan unconscious, and when she wakes she discovers she's trapped in the room and Caitlin is missing! Find the objects you'll need to reach the exit, then recover precious museum artifacts as you work your way through the rubble searching for your daughter.

Escape the Museum is a lot like Azada or the Dream Chronicles series in that it mixes adventure-style puzzles with light hidden object gameplay. Levels alternate between game modes to keep the experience from growing too dull, and the story is told through a series of cut scenes complete with voice acting. Susan is in contact with several co-workers who provide hints via cell phone, telling her which items she'll need to clear a path to the exit. These usually consist of simple assembly puzzles that require you to locate items or item components and use them in the appropriate area to continue. For example, finding a flashlight and then having to locate batteries and a bulb to make it work, all of which are second nature to room escape fans and adventure enthusiasts alike...

Escape the Museum - Object-Hunting Diversion

I don't know about you, but when I first saw the title I thought about Night at the Museum movie.

But as I dived into the game, I understood that it's a different story. Escape the Museum, developed and published by Gogii Games, is not as friendly and funny as the one with Ben Stiller...

Escape the Museum: Museums are usually not thought of a dangerous place, but the National Museum of History unexpectedly become a disaster area, and its chief scientist Susan caitlin her daughter, who gets stuck in there and separated in a powerful earthquake.

Your first challenge is vestibular Museum, a magnificent rooms and a huge Tyrannosaurus rex fossil at the core. Dinosaurs in the huge and heavy in the head before the doors close, you have to find a way to escape. At the same time in the whole building shake and subsidence, give you a sense of crisis-ridden world.

With similar adventure game, azada or Dream Chronicles, at Escape the Museum, you can click on an object to add it to your list, and then use it at the different place. More interested, move your mouse at the scene, you will find that the mouse will turn into different shapes, but you can also narrow the gap between the screen, you need to carefully inspect the items...

The little rabbit Fridolin is the latest in a long line of pets to go mysteriously missing in what is becoming a common theme in hidden object game storylines. (Not that we're complaining - only a cruel, heartless person wouldn't jump at the opportunity to rescue cute animals.) In Animal Agents you'll do just that, with the unique option of playing as either Anna or Justin and exploring the story from two different points of view.

Anna enjoys spending her holidays on her uncle's farm, where she's joined by her friend Sarah and Sarah's brother Justin. Unfortunately, any hope of a peaceful vacation is shattered when Sarah's new bunny Fridolin goes missing from her backyard. Anna and Justin find evidence that a burglar has been in the backyard, and these clues lead them on an investigation to find out who's been snatching peoples' pets from the neighborhood.

While gameplay is pretty standard hidden object fare - search through different scenes to look for a series of items on a list, some of which turn out to be important clues - what's nice about Animal Agents is that the clues you'll find while searching carry over into the next phase of the investigation, resulting in a clear and coherent story. For example, finding a bottle of pills and a shred of fabric in the backyard leads Anna to head to the pharmacy to try to identify the pills, and to the tailor to see if the fabric matches any clothing. There are 21 scenes to visit in total, including the animal shelter, hotel, diving school, zoo, scrap yard, train station and stable. These locations are marked on an attractive-looking map of the entire town.

While searching for objects, you can find and click on special items that will bestow bonuses like adding more time onto the clock, or revealing the locations of hard-to-find items. There are a limited number of hints, and unlike some other hidden object games you have to find all of the items (instead of most of them), which can be quite challenging...

This week we have been showered with new hidden object games and the latest offering is Animal Agents. Certainly not the worst game in this over populated genre, Animal Agents has you searching through objects to find clues as to the strange and somewhat bizarre disappearance of the neighborhood animals.

Even your pet rabbit has mysteriously disappeared. Has it wandered off and got lost, has it been stolen, or is it being held for something that may prove to be even more sinister?

When Sophie goes out one morning to feed her cute little dwarf rabbit, she discovers to her horror that Fridolin has gone! Her parents are sure that Sophie has forgotten to close the stable door and are deaf to her claims that she has found suspicious footsteps and a mysterious scrap of cloth.

Only her brother Leon and her friend Anna are prepared to stick by her. Together they decide to investigate the theft. Whilst undertaking their detective work, the three animal agents stumble across a major plot and a dark secret. Many more animals have disappeared from the surrounding area!