A Puzzling App: Awakening Kingdoms

Awakening Kingdoms by Big Fish Games - SahmReviews.com

Disclosure

Despite being retired, I find myself pretty busy with all my social media projects. I spend a lot of my time on my home computer and when I step away from that, I often have my phone or iPad in hand to watch for emails or jot down notes of things I need to handle. Sometimes I just need to decompress and I often do that by doing puzzles in the newspaper or thinking games on the iPad. I had been playing Simpsons Tapped Out on my iPad but felt like it lacked any need for brainpower. When I have writer’s block, Fairway Solitaire Blast by Big Fish Games has been one of my go-to favorites.

Well, now Big Fish Games is making me rethink what my favorite game is. They just launched Awakening Kingdoms on August 8th targeted toward female gamers ages 35-70. A cross between a Sims game like the Simpsons and seek and find, I thought it would be fun to try. In the interest of preparing a detailed review, I dove in and didn’t put it down. Well, technically, I did put it down but I picked it back up lots of times since then.

The premise of the story is to restore a castle and surrounding villages by gathering supplies from hidden object searches and mini puzzle games. As players progress to higher levels, more options and features open up. As with other Big Fish apps, characters, quests and levels are added each month to keep things interesting. In other words, there is no end in sight. That’s awesome if it is a game you are enjoying!

There are always a variety of quests to choose from in Awakening Kingdoms by Big Fish Games. - SahmReviews.com #app #puzzles

How is the game played?

Through a series of quests, players are guided on what to do to restore the castle and rebuild the village.  In the beginning, players only have one quest to do but as the game moves on, additional quests are available simultaneously.

An ever-changing variety of search and find puzzles are the base of Awakening Kingdoms by Big Fish Games. - SahmReviews.com #app #puzzles

What kinds of activities do the quests involve?

Let’s see… Players can do hidden object puzzles to earn supplies. Those supplies are used to build stores, merchants and homes in the village or redecorate the castle. There are a variety of hidden object puzzles that each start with the same basic landscape. At first it felt like the exact same puzzle then I realized the objects were changing and more were added. Sometimes the search list would be words, sometimes pictures.

Just one of the many different types of puzzles found in Awakening Kingdoms from Big Fish Games. - SahmReviews.com #app #puzzles

Buildings such as Town Hall offer mini games. All the ones that have opened up for me so far have been a type of jigsaw or matching puzzle but they increase in difficulty. I’ve found other types of puzzles in other parts of the kingdom – each with unique attributes; all entertaining to a brainteaser fanatic like myself. The puzzles and games provide money, building materials or resources required to complete quests. The faster the puzzles and searches are completed, the more the player earns.

Need a tip on what to do next on Awakening Kingdom? The game tells you by circling where to go! - SahmReviews.com #puzzles #app

What if I get stuck?

During the puzzles and mini-games, there are options to take a hint. If the player takes too long to proceed, hints appear on the screen in the form of stars encircling the area to click next.

How do I win?

It is not about winning… It is about the quest to awaken the kingdom from its slumber.

Play with friends!

One of the quests early on is to connect with friends. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how to do it. It brings up a list of five people I don’t know. I’m not a fan of connecting with random people. To add a friend, it asks for a code… Which I can’t figure out how to do. My daughter and I want to become friends in the game but we’ve tried various things and can’t figure it out. I’ll update this if I finally figure out how to add real friends and not random people in their system.

After playing it for just a few days, I’ve found it to be addicting. I love the puzzles and would be perfectly happy just doing those. Building the rest of the buildings and completing the quests gives me more to choose from. With each new building comes a new set of puzzles or activities! The only thing I don’t like about this game is that it is very slow moving – yet there are a LOT of things going on at once. I find it a bit overwhelming to try to do it all so I have to take it in small pieces! Just goes to show that Awakening Kingdoms is very in depth! This game has already moved to the top of my “go-to” list!

Do you like games that require some thinking?

17 thoughts on “A Puzzling App: Awakening Kingdoms

  1. I heard nothing but good things about this game App and my son recently asked to play it and he loves it, too… great review. Thanks for sharing and this is like always, a very informative post for parents so we know what’s going on with an APP..love it..

  2. Aren’t most games addictive? I had to chuckle over your comment on getting addicted to it. As to your question, I can appreciate games that make you think and respond in a strategic and creative way. I also know it is a billion dollar industry so I respect that. However, I must be one of five people who are not gamers; I’m just not interested in games. My kids love playing and a bunch of my friends too. 🙂
    Eliz

  3. This looks like something both my husband and I would enjoy. Though I am not sure I need to get addicted to another game right now. Not sure if I missed it, but would this be available for Android tablets too. (Yes, I know I just said I don’t need another game to be addicted to, but, well….)

  4. Hi Nicole, thank you for playing Awakening Kingdoms! Glad you and your daughter are both loving it. You can add each other as friends by entering your friend codes. You can view your code by tapping on your avatar on the upper left part of the screen. It should show your username and game version too. Hope this helps! Happy playing. 🙂

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