Friday, November 4, 2016

Pearl's Perils

Solitaire games on the iPad were my choice of periodic diversion ... like Solitaire, Spider, Bejeweled, Free Cell, Merged, and Slots Pharaoh's Way.

When you open these games, you must sit through several seconds of animated demonstration of a game they want you to download. All are free, of course, but they have ways of separating you from a couple of dollars occasionally. Multiply this by millions of users and it's quite profitable for them.

I've tried many of these suggestions, only to delete the game when it go to the point where I'd have to spend money for credits so I could continue. One of the intriguing ads was a hidden-object game that looked easy and promised a good story.



So I downloaded it ... "Pearl's Peril," by Berlin-based Wooga, released in 2013, now their most popular game of all time.

In a nutshell, you must go through screen after screen of hidden objects. They're not hard to spot, all are in plain sight. You just have to find them. The screen picture gets more and more crowded as you go along.


My Island, as of Oct. 11, 2916
Completion of each screen will earn you badges, which are used to open up areas on Artemis Island, situated somewhere in the South Pacific.

You also earn coins, which allow you to "buy" terrain, decorations, buildings, and special items. You can only play the screens when you have lightning bolt energy. When you run out of the 10 you're allotted, you have to wait 20 minutes for the next one to appear.

Side games include Darwin the Monkey's banana game to win circus items, the Captain's Challenge to win more challenge tickets and energy, and Edwin's Collections to win special decoration items.

When you construct buildings, you receive "prestige flowers," which are required to open further chapters in the story.

Which brings me to the story: Pearl Wallace travels worldwide to solve her father's suicide, introducing us to several characters and taking her to exciting adventures in her quest.

Pearl's Perils production values are extremely high and everything is detailed and beautiful. It's addictive and will probably be your go-to game once you've locked into it.

It's mine.

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