A RIEview on Life and games

Hi all!  In a blink of an eye, we're already in the 3rd week of December.  So to all you eagle-eye readers out there, you may be wondering things like:-  Where's the next post?  or Are you abandoning this blog?  Truthfully, I'm not planning to abandon this blog. Hiatus, yes.  You see, in between the earlier update and this update, I've been working on translating 食物语 for International players who want to play but don't understand Mandarin.  In the mean time, I had been job hunting. In fact, I scored a contractual part-time that lasted for 8 days, and boy those 8 days were tough! It wasn't anything too difficult, as it's just retail, but it was exhausting as I was the only staff working and had to work the full shift – AKA 12 hours. Yup, I could only have lunch and toilet breaks when there were no customers, which is a big challenge as the stall/booth I was manning had no security measures to ensure goods remained where they were when I was away at the toilet

Hi! So today's post is part answering some questions that readers may have after all the reviews so far, but also brief mentions of what's been happening in my personal life, and some exciting news coming soon on this blog!  The current state of the blog As of now, the current game reviews seen are not even half of the full list of games that I intend to post. Reviews will also include games that I've completed but still wanted to share because of how good it is, and also games that I'm on the fence about. One of the games that I had been on the fence is A3!, which I am sad to announce that I have officially deleted the app from my phone. This was a semi tough decision, because there was no way for me to keep my game records on A3!, but I had to free up some memory space on my phone to allow updates for other games.  Gaming devices, Being F2P I mainly play games on 2 devices: iPhone 6 Plus, and on Galaxy Tab A. So I mainly played games on my iPhone, until the Galaxy Tab

Before Call Me Emperor, I had been highly invested in Emperor and Beauties, a game similar to Call Me Emperor. Both games are ancient Chinese imperial palace storyline with similar gameplay, but have several differences that will be discussed in the subsequent review. Eventually I uninstalled Emperor and Beauties but kept Call Me Emperor, though initially I had preferred Emperor and Beauties over Call Me Emperor. Call Me Emperor by Clicktouch Co. Ltd started first in a Chinese version targeted to its Chinese population, only later an English version for the international market. So what can you expect in Call Me Emperor? Game Plot Set in a imperial Chinese dynasty, you play as an emperor/empress tasked to build up your very own loyal army and secure your place on the throne. At this time you receive news of a possible coup d'etat, and so you begin your journey of rooting out people who are against your ascension to the throne. There's betrayal, assassination, confrontations...

June's Journey, by Wooga, is a hidden object game with  island decorating and a main storyline rolled in one. I actually had the game quite some time but left it on hiatus because I got distracted (either by another game or by studies, or perhaps a mix of both), until mid-2019 when I found out my friend at work had (then) recently downloaded the game and was playing it during our tea break. Suddenly motivated, I decided to delve back into June's Journey, just in time as Wooga released a new feature that had me hooked than I ever was before. Read on and see what's the change! Game Plot  In the late 1920s, our protagonist June Parker returns back to her home on Orchid Island after she received news of her sister Clare murdered by her husband, Harry, who then killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide attempt. June's niece, Virginia, showed June a photo of the crime scene, which fuels her suspicion that things may not be as they seem. And so June begins her investigation

Though 'Surviving Overseas' series has ended, I wanted to include my experience of working part-time during my university time in New Zealand, hence this post is a bonus piece – like sprinkles on top of a cupcake or an ice cream, just to wrap up the series for good.  Disclaimer : I am aware that not everyone will share the same experience as I do. All of us will have different routes to get a job, and some of us may have to take many, many tries before you finally snag that job you've been eyeing for. A month into my first semester in second year, I got a call from my friend about a vacancy at the place she worked at. Before this call, we had met over lunch and we chat about a lot of things when the topic of working part-time came up in our conversation. In first year, I wasn't so keen finding a part-time job mainly because I wasn't sure if I can commit to a job. New country, new study environment, new study schedules – I just didn't had the confidence I can jug

Ah, Mushroom Garden. This is the first casual game I ever downloaded and enjoyed, so downloading Mushroom Garden HD definitely bring back memories after I completed and deleted the game back in... 2012/13-ish? Not only did I download Mushroom Garden, but because I got so into the game that I went and downloaded BeeWorks' other game – Touch Detective. Touch Detective revolves around a young girl detective Mackenzie who solves cases with her faithful pet/sidekick, Funghi. Because of Funghi's popularity, BeeWorks decided to launch the Mushroom Garden series and even character goods! So thank you, Touch Detective! (Now if only I could find Touch Detective on the game stores again...) Now onto the Mushroom Garden HD RIEview! Game Plot  Like Mandrake Boys, Mushroom Garden HD don't have a plot. Instead, you are directed to a piece of wood where you will be given a basic tutorial on how to grow mushrooms. While the whole appeal of Mushroom Garden is to collect all the different ty

Mandrake Boys is a casual game by Owlogue Inc., where the objective of the game is to harvest a collection of good-looking anthropomorphised plants. Or in common English, your task as a player is to grow plant boys. Yes, you read that right. The same company also released Mandrake Girls, the predecessor of Mandrake Boys. However, due to software incompatibility with latest operating systems and (probably) being less favoured than Mandrake Boys, Mandrake Girls are no longer found on the app or play store. Wondering if you should download this game? Read on to see if this is your cup of tea!  Game Plot  There's no main plot for Mandrake Boys, other than the fact that you are there to grow and harvest mandrake boys. Of course, with each mandrake you harvest, you will unlock parts of their story related to the seed pack they are from. Occasionally, the dialogues for some mandrakes will appear to be addressing the player, but that is rare and sometimes not consistent throughout their st

For the last part on the 'Surviving Overseas' series, this post focuses on part-time or casual work. While 'part-time' and 'casual' sound like two words that are interchangeable in meanings, they are seen different in the New Zealand workplace. For part-time, you have an agreement with your boss and he/she will give you work on the set days that you are available; for casual, you only have to inform your boss your availability and you will only work on your available days should your boss need you. In terms of contract, you do have to sign an employment contract if you are a part-timer, but you don't have to if you are only a casual worker.  With that said, you may be curious as to why did I decide to include this topic as the final entry to this series. You see, whether you are an international or domestic student, most of us are not born with a golden spoon. And now that we have to live away from home, it becomes our responsibility to pay our bills and exp

Color Pieceout, by AXEL GAME Entertainment Inc., is one of the several games that I've downloaded during the lockdown. I was attracted by the colourful art style seen in the screenshots off the Play Store, so I gave in and downloaded it. Firstly, it's a match-3 puzzle game, but with a mystery and adventure plot. I would compare it to the likes of Matchington Mansion and other match-3 puzzle games, except that Color Pieceout stands out because of its unique (and fresh!) plot that has nothing to do with renovation. Read on for the full review! Game Plot The plot revolves around Lily, who embarked into New York in search of her missing father. On her way to get help from Poirrot Detective Agency, she gets herself entangled with a case. Little did she knew that that would be the first of many, as she becomes an intern herself at Poirrot Detective Agency. So from the get-go, I already love the incorporation of case-solving in a match-3 puzzle that usually (for some reason) involves