Ever wish you could design the interior of a beautiful house? Playrix’s Gardenscapes Mansion Makeover (PC $13.95) allows you to do that. You start by talking with Austin, your faithful butler. Austin will guide you through the game, listening to him will give you hints and tips on completing the renovation of your house.
You must renovate your house for a party that friends are coming over for. You have a limited budget that you supplement by having a rummage sale within the mansion’s many rooms. Your customers come in with specific items and you must find them in a limited amount of time. The objects may be obvious or very well hidden.
You will also have to think outside the box on some items, (I.e.a bat could be a baseball bat or a bat). There are two modes to finding hidden objects; timed or relaxed. With timed you are given time bonus points based on the time you have left. If you run out of time, you will still get your points for the objects you found.
In relaxed mode, there is no time limit and no extra bonus points added to your score. The score is based on money earned, hints left, and time bonus (in timed mode). You start with talking to Austin and inviting friends over, but before they come over, you must renovate the main room in your house. You do not have much money, so Austin suggests that you sell items that you do not use in the many rooms in your house. You will also find money hidden in each room.
The more you fix up your house, the more rooms open up. These range from the boiler room, kitchen, bedrooms, backyard, and many others. You start with a few customers and get more the more you play. Each customer comes in and tells you what they are looking for. Each customer has 3 hearts and a $ amount for the item.
The longer you take the more the hearts drop and the less money you get. While searching for the items, you have 0-5 clues available to you. The clues can be refreshed by finding ? hidden in the rooms. If you have clues left at the end of each round you will receive money that is based on the number of clues left. These clues come in 3 ways. The item will appear beside the customer, giving you a visual clue.
You can find cameras hidden in the pictures as well; clicking on these will show only the objects that you are looking for. There are also thermometers hidden in the pictures as well. When you click on one of these, the tags with the customers will show varying degrees of hot or cold. The closer you get to a desired item, the tag will look as if it is getting warmer; the further away, the more icy it will look. Once you have found all items or ran out of time, you will return to the main room.
Here you can buy each piece of furniture that you need. You can choose each piece from a selection and price range. These include living room sets, rugs, dog beds, wall fountains and aquariums, among other things. More than 1 room may be needed to get enough money to purchase certain items.
You can also receive items by helping out with certain challenges. These include finding twenty bags and giving them to someone who recycles bags to re-upholster furniture. They give you a matching ottoman for the chair that is by your fireplace.
In exchange for finding 20 teddy bears, you get your telephone installed for free. Some of the challenges take you outside into the garden. These include collecting dog bones to get your dog out of the fountain. You must also fix your satellite dish to watch “Renovation Academy” which Austin loves.
Austin will tell you what you may need, as well as feeding the fish, playing with the dog, and placing any important calls that need to be made. You interact with him by clicking on him. You will receive mail that shows up on the top right-hand side of your screen. By clicking on it, you will open it up to be read. It could be a letter from a future guest or somebody looking to trade something.
Gardenscape: Mansion Makeover is very fun to play. Some of the items were very hard to find and others were easy. To look for some of the items you will need to “think outside the box”. Looking for a bat could either mean a baseball bat or the animal
Gardenscape: Mansion Makeover opens up more rooms as you continue in the game. The same rooms are used multiple times; some items stay in the same place, while others will move. The game is very interactive. When you roll over some items they will turn on. These include flashlights and oil lamps. In some levels, you will need to collect 2, 3, or more items.
The ability to play the relaxed version takes away any pressure and allows you to enjoy the game. You can go back and choose different options in your designs at any time. You can also keep playing the various rooms to get more money if you want to purchase more expensive items.
The Deluxe version comes with an animated screensaver, wallpapers, soundtracks, and additional levels.
Playrix’s Gardenscapes: Mansion Makeover is a game that every fan of hidden object games can dig into!
Danip
Platform: PC
Developer: Playrix
Publisher: Playrix
ESRB: N/A
Price: $13.95
Official Gardenscape: Mansion Makeover’s Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| Colorful and beautiful graphics. Hidden objects are integrated into the background so that they don't stick out. | |
| Sound | |
| Music adds to the overall feel of the game and sound effects fit very well. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Game flows very well and the ability to switch from timed to relaxed mode is perfect for gamers of all ages. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Gardenscapes: Mansion Makeover is perfect for any fan of hidden object games. Great for one person or the whole family. | |
#1
I Have gardenscapes and gardenscapes makeover .Love them both! I bought makeover for my desktop but don’t know how to put it on my laptop without buying it again. BUT I STILL LOVE IT !!!!
#2
Nice game but can’t get into all the rooms.