Customer Reviews

The Scruffs [Download]

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first Amazon game download and, since it's 'free' I can't see how I could possibly complain.

The start is a little depressing: daddy just got fired and the family needs to sell the house but... wait... grand daddy, an 'old timer' kind of... remembers that there was something that, if found, maybe they didn't have to sell the house.

What follows is a series of puzzles where you must find various items inside rooms full of hundreds of artifacts. Then, if you do find them, you restore a torn picture off its fragments and then... there's some secret code that it's revealed if you find more items and so on, and so forth...

Not bad, for something that's 'free' (it was so when I downloaded it). You get a story line and you it's a pretty good brain tease.

The following are notable features:

- Compatible with Windows XP, Vista.
- Plays in a window or 'full screen' - resolution seems to be 800x600.
- Time constrained or 'relaxed' mode.
- Some help is available if you really, really can't find an item.
- When played in a window, the game (clock) stops whenever the game is not the 'active' window.
- I experienced no display issues on a Vista laptop
- I found no evidence of any malware/spyware attached to this game. So far, the game played cleanly, strictly on my computer - did not have to reach out over the Net for anything.

Overall, not a bad game, if you have the time and the patience. I've been actually playing it for the past couple of days and, to my surprise, my 11 yr. old kid asked that I downloaded a copy to his own laptop.

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Notes:

- I had to install Amazon's 'downloader' software before downloading the game itself. It was pretty quick and it appears to be harmless.
- When installed, if you keep the defaults, all games go as subfolders inside a folder named Amazon Games.

"The Scruffs" is a hidden object type game directed towards kids but the hidden objects are often very hard to find. As an adult you could consider this game worthy of your sleuth talents in finding all the stuff you're obliged to locate. How many kids know what an "epilator" is, let alone what one looks like? Often some very sophisticated orchids and other exotic plants are mixed into the jumble. Can you recognize an aloe verde? That will help! As an adult you will not be bored with the environments as the objects are often unusual. But kids will also revel in this game with its quirky story line.

There are jigsaw mini-puzzles to do along the way as you travel the world with the Scruffs, and these are entertaining. One object is featured in each puzzle and you will have to locate that object in the Scruff's messy house before you can proceed to the next level.

The "hint" mechanism, the little dog Scruffy, who jumps up and down ecstatically when you feed him a dog biscuit and he gets close to the hidden object is -well- funny. Ten year olds will love him but so will the older folk. This game will appeal over a wide spectrum of ages, an enjoyable escape for all!

For the price, this game delivers a great deal. Other than the main scavenger hunt game, there is also a puzzle minigame, and two memory type minigames. The characters are fun and the artwork is good; however, the game gets pretty hard towards the end. This game can get kind of frustrating due to the nature of the game; however, the minigames break it up a bit and keeps it interesting. Depending on how perceptive you are, expect to finish it in about 10 hours.

In general, the game seems pretty nice. It's not that well-behaved, though. It resizes windows for most of your applications, and it seems to have a display problem. While searching for an item, it seemed obvious that part of the screen wasn't being displayed. I switched from full-screen and back, but wasn't able to see objects. When I restarted the game, the screen displayed properly, and I was immediately able to find the last piece I was looking for.

Not a bad game, but it does seem to have some issues.

I downloaded this and had a ton of fun the first time through. It took a few days (since I had work and kids to deal with). My children loved coming into my home office and looking for things hidden in the scenes.
It was a little challenging at first (especially since it you have the option of being timed). But after the first play, it was a breeze (but still fun) the second and third time I went through.
I probably won't play it again but I feel like I got more than my money's worth.

The game starts with the introduction of an odd family with Grandpa looking for lost objects. The main screen is a map of the family house with a number of objects needed in each room. Click on the room and you enter and look at a very jumbled selection of items hidden and obvious.
The most fun was trying to think of all the variations and interpretations any given object could be. In other words, you might be asked to find a dog and it could be a stuffed dog, a dog in a picture, a dog on a sign, the shadow of a dog... You have to really suspend your obvious thinking and keep your mind open.
Each room has the availability of one or more clues to find difficult object.
As the game continues, the objects and quantity of objects gets more difficult. After each complete search level, you get a picture puzzle to assemble. The puzzle reveals a hidden artifact that Grandpa is looking for.
You then have to find that artifact in any one of a number of rooms.
Eventually, you have found everything and you have to find Grandpa's missing gems. Finally, you get to play a "Simon" memory game.
The only drawback is after the memory game, I wished there was some other finale puzzle but the game just ends there.
There are a few bonuses. Many rooms have a "family photo" that becomes a mini game of memory.
It is a great way to pass the time while on hold or just to zone out for a bit.

If there's a better hidden objects game than The Scruffs, I certainly haven't found it yet. It's a good thing this game is so much fun to play because it can also be quite challenging. The intricacies of the hidden object scenes coupled with the sometimes unforgiving time restrictions (if you choose to play the timed mode) can make for a number of failed attempts, especially as you advance farther into the game and encounter more demanding puzzles. The overall storyline is a good one, full of interesting details - and the ultimate solution of each level actually plays an integral part in the story's progression. For once, you actually feel as if you're searching for all these things for a real reason. Along the way, you can also take part in a secondary game called Scribbles. The children draw scribbles on a family photograph, and you have to pick the most recent one - it sounds easy, but you're going to need to get at least 15 in a row on each of the 16 or so levels. If your short-term memory isn't any better than mine, this may well become quite frustrating. I was determined enough to finish each one, but I don't really want to hear the word "scribbles" again anytime soon.

With Dad suddenly unemployed and the house at risk, Grandpa Scruff surprises the other members of his quirky and charmingly odd family with the news that he has a secret that can more than save the day. Unfortunately, the old guy doesn't quite remember the details. It's your job to help the family discover the secret by finding valuable artifacts hidden throughout the house - and in order to do that, you'll first have to find a whole bunch of other hidden objects and solve a number of jigsaw puzzle games. In timed mode, you only have a limited amount of time to find all of the objects on each level, and I found more than a few objects pretty hard to find. Fortunately, Scruffy, the family dog, is available to give view a few hints (the closer you are to the item, the louder he barks), and you can get more hints by finding the dog bone hidden in each room. Even with all that, though, it took me several attempts to clear some of the higher levels. The artwork and design of each room is just marvelous, and they tend to be full of all sorts of objects. You can't count on rushing through a level the second or third time around, as the sheer number of objects means you are going to be looking for a number of different things each time. I also noticed that a few of the hidden objects you're hunting in a given room are plainly visible in other rooms, and that earns the designers of this game a few extra respect points in my book.

The Scruffs is easily the most fun and challenging hidden object game I've played up to this point, with a great storyline, beautiful graphics, delightfully quirky characters, and genuinely challenging - and fun - gameplay. Who could ask for more? The only thing I didn't like about the game was the fact that I could not find a way to restart a level without manually speeding the clock down to zero.

I enjoy the seek and find, look and hunt type of games like this one. It is fun to look for hidden objects with a time line so that you can't take forever.

What I enjoyed about this is that there was a little bit of a story line and a few puzzles that you could put together and other little games through out this game.

The characters are quirky and downright fun. The story line is charming and quirky and only adds to the play.

Overall, I completely enjoyed this game.

This game is fantastic! Not like most of the newer games these days. Easy to start playing immediately. Yesterday after a horrible episode our family came home, all of us emotionally drained. I started showing my husband The Scruffs game I bought the night before, and we were immediately hooked. Next thing you know, here comes our autistic son actually joining in! He calmed down and got completely engrossed in the game. We all sat and played together and had a very good time doing it. It is really good for just relaxing and escaping. Best of all it is one of the few things we can do together as a family. This would be good for a lot of autistic kids to play because they're really good at hidden object games, but its not too hard to enjoy.

This is a great little seek and find game. Some things are easy to find some are harder but the hint system is cute. An enjoyable way to procrastinate doing the housework.

I'm relatively new to the "hidden object" game genre, but boy did I get hooked on them. This was definitely one of the more charming and unique such games I've played, although it's not one my 9 y/o son could play without assistance. Perhaps that's because the "British-isms" weren't familiar to him -- i.e., "cotton buds" (what we call Q-Tips or ear swabs in the States), an epilator (electric razor), etc. Fortunately, there's a very helpful -- and adorable -- hint system available. Unlike other games, the hints are not time-restricted so you don't have to wait around for the hint timer to refresh itself before getting more help. With liberal use of the hint system, even my 9 y/o was able to work his way through most of the rooms.

My only complaint about the game is that the resolution isn't very clear which made finding some of the darker colored items rather difficult if they were against a similarly dark background. I'm playing on a 17-inch laptop, which probably contributed to the problem; however, I doubt I'm the only person who does so, and that's something the graphic designers should have taken into consideration.

All in all, this was a very fun game! It's not long-lasting -- I finished it over a weekend -- but it was certainly enjoyable.