Nevertales: Smoke and Mirrors Collector's Edition > iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac & PC Game

Overall rating

5 / 5

171 of 204 found this review helpful

Alice In Taleworld

PostedNovember 8, 2014

pennmom36

fromAlice caused the sprinkler system to flood her office, set off the fire alarms, broke the scaffolding and left in the middle of the afternoon, she might want to look for a job in Taleworld.

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Skill Level:Expert

Current Favorite:

Phantasmat Collector's Edition

(100)

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

4 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

The benevolent Queen ruled her kingdom with compassion and wisdom, she loved her subjects so much that a heart became part of her coat of arms. Loyal soldiers proudly wore hearts on their armors and flags and the Queen became known as the Queen of Hearts. This kingdom flourished and became the finest realm of Taleworld, until a mysterious advisor changed everything. The Queen locked the gates and ...Show more

The benevolent Queen ruled her kingdom with compassion and wisdom, she loved her subjects so much that a heart became part of her coat of arms. Loyal soldiers proudly wore hearts on their armors and flags and the Queen became known as the Queen of Hearts. This kingdom flourished and became the finest realm of Taleworld, until a mysterious advisor changed everything. The Queen locked the gates and she retreated to the castle, the advisor was the only person allowed to visit the Queen! The Queen has finally emerged, no longer loved by her subjects, she has become a cruel tyrant, enforcing curfews and executing anyone who speaks out against her iron thumb ruling, Pierre is one of those scheduled to be executed! Belle has gathered several brave townsfolk, who are willing to fight the Queen's army once Alice arrives through the mirror portal (appropriate name right?) Hopefully Alice will beat the odds and reunite with her mother Belle, but will their combined powers be strong enough to defeat this once beloved Queen? Can they defeat the Queen in time to save Pierre from execution?

I try to compare apples to apples with each review, but sequels rarely live up to the original game, I loved the first game so much that I purchased it within 15 minutes of playing the demo, and it was an excellent game from beginning to end. The second game had unusual features that I liked but I just couldn't connect with the characters, perhaps because Pierre and Belle had aged so much and little inventory baby Alice was now a young girl with problems of her own. I still had difficulty connecting with the characters in this game, Alice is a young woman who left Taleworld to pursue a business career in the big city, so I wrote this review trying not to compare this game to the first game. This is still a really good game, but for me, it's kind of like meeting a friend for the first time since she moved away 15 years ago, you don't really know them anymore. I wish they had spaced these games with a shorter virtual time frame.

Gears is still flying strong, after you fix him up with a new eyeball, some screws and a tiny bit of glue, he's good to go, helping you out with items impossible for you to reach, or relaying messages to the homefront. There are also plus sign indicators on some inventory items which require you to repair or combine that item with another inventory item before using. Each Scene has collectible stained glass pieces, once you find the collectible, the icon on the bottom left will light up indicating that the collectible has been located. Your smartphone contains everything you need, a map, your journal and objectives, clues you come across, achievements you have earned and wallpapers that you unlock as the game progresses.

Hidden Object Games are unusual, yet typical in this series, you find items that unlock the lists such as flowers or even symbols on books that cause the entire bookshelf to slide down and expose a mural. Each Hidden Object Scene has a morphing object, again typical of Nevertales HO's, once you find the morphing item, the icon on the left will light up to show that you have found that item. I absolutely loved the HO where you had to first find several gears in pairs as shown as silhouettes x2 out of a scene crammed full of moving gears, then you had to place those gears into a mechanical clock in the correct position to allow all the gears to move, great out of the box thinking! The mini games aren't as plentiful as I would have hoped for but not bad. The mirror portal games required you to attach circles with either one, two, three or four handles by moving the circles so that the handles matched and all handles were connected. There were a few puzzles where you first collected encrypted codes that had several numbers that equalled a symbol, the first symbol shown may have the key code = 4-3 for example. You would have to then apply that number to that symbol in the game.

This Collectors edition has Concept Art, unlockable Wallpapers, Soundtracks, HO's, Smoke and Mirror puzzles, Red Heart Casino games, a Bonus Chapter, Collectibles, Morphing Objects, and a built in Strategy Guide, enjoy! Show less

I recommend this game!

+138points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

29 of 32 found this review helpful

Don't mind the reviews, try the demo!

PostedNovember 12, 2014

_sephiroth

fromFairbanks, AK

Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle

Current Favorite:

Nevertales: Smoke and Mirrors Collector's Edition

(60)

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

Review based on the full game:

I've played all of the Nevertales games and I have to admit, this one comes close, but doesn't top the first one, and it just might be better than the second. Regardless, all three are deserving of five stars, but that's just my opinion.

Anyways, some more info about the game: You play as Alice, the daughter of Belle and Pierre from the previous games. You've got ...Show more

Review based on the full game:

I've played all of the Nevertales games and I have to admit, this one comes close, but doesn't top the first one, and it just might be better than the second. Regardless, all three are deserving of five stars, but that's just my opinion.

Anyways, some more info about the game: You play as Alice, the daughter of Belle and Pierre from the previous games. You've got your little helper Gears with you, but first you have to repair him after you reach your hometown in Taleworld. The graphics are what we've come to expect from Mad Head Games - beautiful hand drawn artworks. The sound effects are nice and the music is, once again, one of the high points of the game. The story has a little twist at the end, as usual in the Nevertales series - it's not all as it seems.

I've read some reviews complaining about there being no lip-syncs in the game, and I have to say that's just not true. You can even see them in the demo, close to the end when you meet the Mal character. Once again they are top-notch! The animations in the game are also very smooth. The Gameplay overall is of Mad Head's quality, so there's no complaints there.

The only bad side to the game might be the bonus chapter, which is again not as long as I had hoped. It's looks gorgeous though, and was fun to get through.

After the bonus chapter you have the option to go through all the scenes and collect the cards you might have missed (the cards are collectables). When you've finished that, there's the treasure hunt waiting (another set of collectables) and when you're done with that, you unlock the Red Heart Casino section of the game where you can play some of the puzzles you've seen in the main game, and also some new ones. Then, as a final reward for playing through the casino games, when you reach 500 points at them, you unlock a final jigsaw puzzle to play through. I had a lot of fun unlocking all the things!

Overall, this game was a blast and I can't wait to see what the people at Mad Head Games put out next. If you;re on the fence about the game, try the demo and see if you like it. I sure did! Show less

I recommend this game!

+26points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

19 of 20 found this review helpful

THOROUGHY ENJOYABLE GAME

PostedDecember 5, 2014

charlene_lane

fromWellington, New Zealand

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Match 3

Current Favorite:

Mystery Case Files®: Escape from Ravenhearst™ Collector's Edition

(897)

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

3 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

Review of completed Game, Bonus, Treasure Hunt and Casino.

The main story revolves around you finding and helping your parents and to beat the enemy. The bonus section revolves around saving the castle.

So much to do in this game and I played for many hours. There is:

* Voiceovers;
* Look, Gaze, Stare and Custom modes of play;
* Achievements boards (3 of them);
* Interactive map;
* Collect 45 ...Show more

Review of completed Game, Bonus, Treasure Hunt and Casino.

The main story revolves around you finding and helping your parents and to beat the enemy. The bonus section revolves around saving the castle.

So much to do in this game and I played for many hours. There is:

* Voiceovers;
* Look, Gaze, Stare and Custom modes of play;
* Achievements boards (3 of them);
* Interactive map;
* Collect 45 cards throughout Game and Bonus;
* Find 16 morphs in hidden object games.
* You have the main story, bonus chapter and Red Heart Casino.

The graphics throughout the entire game were brilliant - very colourful and bright and easy to see and find everything. Sound and music were fantastic. Mad Head are well known for their fine graphics and music.

The hidden object games are fairly easy to play. However, keep a beady eye out for the one morphing object for each game. These morph slowly and they can take a while to find.

The mini-games are fun to do and range from being easy to medium. I did get stuck on one mini-game - the braille game. For some reason I just couldn't get the gist of this and I had to look it up in the Strategy Guide.

If you don't feel like looking for the cards or playing the morphs in the hidden object games, you can do these together later.

The treasure hunt is finding an item in each scene. When this has been done then you can go to the Casino. There are four different games to play which are such a lot fun:

~ Slot machine;
~ Putting the boxes back in place with the forklift;
~ Endless flyer - get Gears to the top; and
~ Shooting range.

I have a blast playing these games - every fishy will enjoy these.

All up, the game, bonus and extras took me about 10 hours to play. However, I only got 70% of the achievements. Hey they're harder than they look - try to better me and let everyone know.

Definitely recommend this game - you will have a great time playing. Now I'm back off the shooting range. Have fun playing. Show less

I recommend this game!

+18points

19of 20voted this as helpful.

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Overall rating

5 / 5

52 of 67 found this review helpful

Another excellent CE...

PostedNovember 8, 2014

belamba

fromPoole, Dorset UK

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
Key Contributor

Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Card & Board, Puzzle

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

Really enjoyed this game. It ran so smoothly on my Mac without a glitch, hint system and jump map are excellent (didn't need SG at all), graphics are superb and music not too intrusive. Not too many cut scenes or long boring dialogues either.

4 choices of game mode including 'custom' which is always a bonus. We the customer can choose the way we want to play the game, rather than the devs ...Show more

Really enjoyed this game. It ran so smoothly on my Mac without a glitch, hint system and jump map are excellent (didn't need SG at all), graphics are superb and music not too intrusive. Not too many cut scenes or long boring dialogues either.

4 choices of game mode including 'custom' which is always a bonus. We the customer can choose the way we want to play the game, rather than the devs deciding for us.

Loved the HOPs. Quite unique and a variety of different ones; a few junk pile (but they were interactive). Liked the idea of looking for a number of the same items in some of them.

You've an owl helper (Gears), but he's not needed that much so not as annoying as they can be.

There are collectables in the shape of cards. I missed quite a few, and wish I'd picked them up in each scene as there is a 'Treasure Hunt' at the end of the game, and it was quite laborious going back to collect those I'd missed.To do the treasure hunt, you firstly need to build a house of cards.

There are some morphing items in the HOPs, but I only found some of them by accident.

The bonus chapter was, as is usual, far too short (especially as it's double the price of the SE). Always get the feeling the bonus chapter is a bit of a bore for many devs. It wasn't made up of lots of HOPs though.

Had all I love about HOPA games, and really is a quality game.

My only disappointment was that, on finishing all necessary tasks so I could enter the casino, the game I wanted to play was a big let down.
Amongst a variety of games, is Solitaire. My favourite computer generated card game. But you can't use any cards already placed on the stack, so the game is pointless! You're supposed to clear all the cards, but in this game's version it was nigh on impossible. Once you'd stacked the cards (and I only had a few left to finish the card game), I had to abandon it as the cards I needed to 'get out' were firmly unavailable from the stack...so after collecting 'all' cards, finishing the treasure hunt and accessing the casino I realised it wasn't worth the time and effort involved. Show less

I recommend this game!

+37points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

49 of 70 found this review helpful

Alice is now a grown-up

PostedNovember 8, 2014

MSBAM100

fromTampa, FL

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This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
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Skill Level:Expert

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Time Management

Current Favorite:

Echoes of the Past: Wolf Healer Collector's Edition

(50)

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

This is the third in a very good series, so if you haven't played the previous ones, you don't need to, but you will probably enjoy them also.

You are the grown-up Alice, who was abandoned as a baby and rescued by Belle and adopted by Belle and Pierre. You are an intern at White Rabbit Marketing, when your old electronic owl friend Gears shows up with a message that your father is to be executed ...Show more

This is the third in a very good series, so if you haven't played the previous ones, you don't need to, but you will probably enjoy them also.

You are the grown-up Alice, who was abandoned as a baby and rescued by Belle and adopted by Belle and Pierre. You are an intern at White Rabbit Marketing, when your old electronic owl friend Gears shows up with a message that your father is to be executed and your mother is wanted dead or alive by the Queen of Hearts!

You are also a "Mirrors Traveler", which means you can open up Portals using mirrors, so you get yourself back to Taleworld and eventually find your parents' home, which has been upended and practically destroyed. You find a message from your mom, fight a heart soldier, and open another mirror portal -- and the demo ends! Pretty exciting!

Besides a great story, this game has unique mini-games, that are not hard but make you think. You get to repair Gears, by finding the parts, then finding the tools, then repairing his wires, and finally pressing buttons correctly to reboot. Or to repair a belt, you get to use a sewing maching by matching stitch designs to sew onto the belt.

The HOPS are also very interesting - finding gears, then placing the gears; find items to get the lists; and the storybook - my favorite - which tells the Queen of Hearts story while you find hidden items to advance the pages of the story.

The CE bling includes collectible cards in each scene, with an icon to tell you if you've found it or not. Plus each HOP has a morphing object - also with an icon. The Treasure Hunt requires you build a Tower of Cards. The Smoke and Mirrors puzzle and the Red Heart Casino are available after the main game is finished, along with the Bonus Chapter.

With four modes of difficulty, including custom, this game should appeal to you. Try it and see! Show less

I recommend this game!

+28points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

14 of 17 found this review helpful

Fantastic

PostedNovember 11, 2014

gryhndlvr

fromColorado

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
Key Contributor

Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Time Management, Hidden Object, Match 3

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

5 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

This one was almost as good as the first one. So much to do and it is a fairly long game too.
Minigames are typical Mad Head style, I love it.
Story keeps you going, Graphics are gorgeous. Just when you think it's over there is another twist or turn.
I love how the story goes from real life to fairy tale. Very good imagination.
Keep it up Mad Head. I love your style

I recommend this game!

+11points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

28 of 39 found this review helpful

Smoking Hot Fairy Tale

PostedNovember 9, 2014

Kkdoc

fromOHIO

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
Key Contributor

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Large File, Puzzle

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

3 / 5

I see some not so great reviews, but I do not feel the same way. This is a fairy tale and as such, the colors and graphics and farfetched storyline is in keeping with the genre. True, I was not totally captivated by the characters, but there were so many other things I did like. Thank goodness these developers are being more innovative. The puzzles, HOS and interactions to accomplish tasks were ...Show more

I see some not so great reviews, but I do not feel the same way. This is a fairy tale and as such, the colors and graphics and farfetched storyline is in keeping with the genre. True, I was not totally captivated by the characters, but there were so many other things I did like. Thank goodness these developers are being more innovative. The puzzles, HOS and interactions to accomplish tasks were fun and different. I thought that the unusual way Alice got out of her office was very clever, and that fresh approach was seen throughout the game. It kept me interested and happily anticipating the next challenge. There was a lot more to do in this game which made this one somewhat better than the Nevertales Beauty Within.
We have been complaining for months that developers are doing the same old stuff, (and portals are becoming old), but when this game delivers something different, I don't really care if it is "over the top". At least you won't see a paper under the door to collect a key here! Show less

I recommend this game!

+17points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

9 of 12 found this review helpful

Entertaining Addition to a Great Series

PostedNovember 11, 2014

Queen_Mab

fromColorado

Key Contributor
This "Key Contributor" plays, rates, and reviews a lot of games. We think you'll trust their thoughts and opinions about games.
Key Contributor

Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle

Current Favorite:

Nevertales: Smoke and Mirrors Collector's Edition

(60)

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

I am surprised by the response to this one. Although it is in no way as good as the first, it is still really good. The puzzles are fun and with a few exceptions of over repetitive use of some, they keep you interested. The story was entertaining as well, even if it was a bit predictive. So far, this is one of the most stand out series BF has to offer, the graphics, music and story are all above ...Show more

I am surprised by the response to this one. Although it is in no way as good as the first, it is still really good. The puzzles are fun and with a few exceptions of over repetitive use of some, they keep you interested. The story was entertaining as well, even if it was a bit predictive. So far, this is one of the most stand out series BF has to offer, the graphics, music and story are all above and beyond. Show less

I recommend this game!

+6points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

11 of 16 found this review helpful

Best Nevertales

PostedNovember 12, 2014

hevensday

Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object

Fun Factor

5 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

5 / 5

This is the best Nevertales game I have played. This is replayable because you have choices to make throughout the game. You get a chance to shoot a bow and arrow.Almost everything you do is interactive. I will play this game again and I recommend this game.

I recommend this game!

+6points

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Overall rating

5 / 5

5 of 6 found this review helpful

Good stuff

PostedNovember 17, 2014

GeorgiusK

fromManchester, GB

Skill Level:Intermediate

Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Strategy

Current Favorite:

Dark Realm: Queen of Flames Collector's Edition

(148)

Fun Factor

4 / 5

Visual/Sound Quality

5 / 5

Level of Challenge

4 / 5

Storyline

4 / 5

I loved the first Nevertales - it was a bit cheesy, but it was really fun! Parts 2 and 3 didn't impress me as much, but they are really good games, no question about it.

You've got some good old matchy puzzles, but also a lot of cut scenes (if you like that kind of things) which makes the game very adventuristic.

But what really makes these Mad Head Games special is the music. Honestly, the ...Show more

I loved the first Nevertales - it was a bit cheesy, but it was really fun! Parts 2 and 3 didn't impress me as much, but they are really good games, no question about it.

You've got some good old matchy puzzles, but also a lot of cut scenes (if you like that kind of things) which makes the game very adventuristic.

But what really makes these Mad Head Games special is the music. Honestly, the reason why I want the CE, even if I am not too impressed by the game, is because of the soundtrack that I get in the end. The voice overs in this game were great too (I didn't really like Gears all that much, but all the others were top notch). Show less

I recommend this game!

+4points

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