We want to help you find the best deals, the hidden gems, the diamonds in the rough. So, we scoured Amazon, Gamestop, and Big Fish Games to help you find wicked deals that will save you a ton of money and net you some excellent games to play. Since we know that a lot of good games go under the radar and don’t make any waves, we thought we’d give you our recommendations for quality games that have dropped in price due to the unfair lack of attention they deserve. But, if you’re tight on cash or just want to take advantage of some great deals, these recommendations are just for you.
Also, we’ve chosen a whole slew of the best casual games from Big Fish Games and help you to select the best adventure and hidden object games. Gamezebo, a site that deals with casual games, has done a great job of collecting a best of 2011 and we will draw from their reviews.
Amazon Deals for Nintendo 3DS Games
25-70% off
Our Highest Recommendation: Super Mario 3D Land
Amazon Deals for Wii Games
70-90% off
Our Highest Recommendation: Metroid: Other M
25-50% off
Our Highest Recommendation: Monster Hunter Tri Classic Controller Bundle
Gamestop Deals That Close at End of January or Beginning of February
$30 off Assassins Creed Revelations at GameStop.com
Save $15 when you purchase 2 new in-stock games priced $59.99 or more. Use code: TEBO. Expires 1/31.
Up to 30% off select titles at GameStop’s post holiday sale
Gears of War 3 now only $39.99 at GameStop.com
FEAR 3 now only $19.99 at GameStop.com
Score double the Power Up Reward points on all PC Downloads at GameStop.com
Thousands of Games Under $20 at GameStop.com
Price Drops on the Hottest Games at GameStop.com
Games Under $10 at GameStop.com
Big Fish Games
Get Your First Game for $2.99, no matter what it is:
Best of 2011 at Big Fish Games (by Gamezebo.com)
Yes, Codeminion’s Phantasmat is set in a haunted house, but don’t let the well-worn plot device fool you, though. In a genre where so many games are rushed to market, Phantasmat is a breath of fresh air. The developer’s respect for the hidden object audience, coupled with a clear understanding of what this audience likes and doesn’t like, makes buying this game a no-brainer.
Dark Parables: The Exiled Prince
The Frog Prince may not be the first guy who leaps to mind when you think about intimidating fairy tale villains, but he’s up to some pretty serious badness in Blue Tea Games’ impressive Dark Parables: The Exiled Prince. People are mysteriously vanishing as they stroll through the woods and it’s up to you to find out why – and to put a stop to it once and for all.
Vanishing Hitchhiker does a wonderful job of creating an eerie atmosphere. This is one of the few games in recent history that have made us jump in our chairs. The graphics are realistic and there is a constant feeling that someone is watching you. The sound effects and music are subtle but enhance the feeling that you are not alone in this town.
The Agency of Anomalies: Mystic Hospital
The plot of Agency of Anomalies is more like something out of the X-Files than the now-cliched haunted hospital plotline of many other games, which comes as a breath of fresh air. Gameplay is a wonderful blend of HOG scenes and puzzles, along with achievements to earn and plenty of secrets to find.
Love Chronicles: The Sword and The Rose
Love Chronicles: The Sword and the Rose opens with a foreboding yet lovely animated sequence that not only sets the stage for the game but also sets expectations very high. Does the game live up to them? In a word, yes. This lengthy, well-crafted fairy tale is easily one of the finest hidden object adventures we’ve played this year.
Nightmare Realm is an odd game. It looks like a fairly straightforward horror adventure, yet it’s set primarily in a colorful, almost lighthearted fantasy world. And while it never even approaches the horrific, it’s so thematically dark as to be one of the most disturbing adventures I’ve ever played – but also one of the most engaging , engrossing and outright entertaining.
Macabre Mysteries: Curse of the Nightingale
Blue Tea Games debuted their new Macabre Mysteries franchise in 2011. The first title in the series, Curse of the Nightingale, takes what Blue Tea does well—gorgeous graphics and an intriguing storyline—and manages to crank them up to yet another level; the result is one unforgettable hidden object adventure.
Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek
Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek looks to be just another haunted town, amnesiac protagonist, dark hidden object game. And it is, but it’s also so much more. Enigmatis is a gorgeous game that takes a tired storyline and makes it interesting again.
Mystery Legends: Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is the follow-up to Mystery Legends: Phantom of the Opera, one of the rare HOGs that we’ve ever given a perfect score to. How do you follow up on perfection? It’s a tough job, but Beauty and the Beast comes tantalizingly close to pulling it off.
Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera
Don’t read this review. Seriously, just stop. Instead, I want you to get yourself a copy of Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera. Play it, love it, be awed and amazed by a hidden object adventure that does literally everything right. You can come back and thank me later. Go ahead, I’ll wait….It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited about a hidden object game but Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera is easily one of the best I’ve ever played. It may well be the best.
Mystery Stories: Mountains of Madness
The story alone – which was inspired by the H. P. Lovecraft novel At the Mountains of Madness – is reason enough to play this hidden object adventure, but it also offers an excellent hint system, interesting characters to interact with, and the ability to experiment with different items instead of being forced down a single obvious path. These elements combine for an immersive world with an intriguing mystery to solve.
Other Popular Adventure Games
