Ironically, I always thought the Hidden Object screens to be the weakest part of Hidden Object games, and badly integrated into the mix, so that they always feel a bit out of place. So removing them seems only logical as a conclusion. In a way, Dreamscapes is still an Hidden Object game, but more in the vein of collectables than puzzles that interfere with the story (e.g. finding those beholders).

I generally enjoy the casual gameplay and fast pace of the better HOGs, compared to hardcore point and click adventures (which I like a lot, to avoid any misconceptions), what I don't like is that their stories often seem a bit shallow compared to 'real' adventure games, and that the graphics can look cheap or a bit cheesy, or in any case they're often in a style I don't fancy that much. I've only started Dreamscapes (also thanks to genkicolleen's recommendation), so I can't judge yet how that one fits into my observations.

Congrats! Have you got the no treasure achievement?

Sounds like this one will be right up your alley. Hope you enjoy it! I felt it went on slightly too long, but only slightly, and that might well have been my mood rather than any miscalculation by the devs.

I know what you mean about the casual gameplay: it is comfortable and very satisfying. I prefer harder, tinkery, more serious and more uncompromising games, theoretically, but once I get to playing one of these more friendly projects I find myself happily engrossed. It's the gaming equivalent of comfort food.

HOGs done badly are excruciating, and they make me mad. But properly-crafted ones are a guilty, inexplicable pleasure. I even mostly like the object screens themselves. They are silly, but they make my brain happy. "Find a fish! Find a fish! OK, there it is! Now ... find a balloon!" There's something about it.

Still working on it.Almost got it one time.Died in level 15 with jet pack,shotgun,kapla and 10 bombs after being stunned
after a long fall to a crush trap.I guess the key is to keep trying and improving.It's harder than the speed run.

Fallout.
Good old granny Fallout with rather non-violent, diplomatic character and recent version of FIXIT mod. Once again I failed to save Followers of the Apocalypse - this time the spy is there but for some reason I got no ending for them after killing her...
But I found something nice on NMA. More on that later :)

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty campaign. Fun times, and much better than Heart of the Swarm's campaign. I might not even continue on to that.

Might just head into ladder once I shake off some rust in AI matches. Of course, I'm pretty bad anyway so it wouldn't make too much difference. I hope this time I can keep interest long enough to graduate from a Bronze/Silver skill level that somehow gets into Gold (even Platinum once, couldn't tell you how that happened).

Shadowgrounds

Shadowgrounds is a top-down shooter in the vein of Alien Shooter (yes, Alien Shooter is isometric, I know), only less gory, more grey and, overall, less satisfying, as killing aliens here is just not as much fun as it is on Alien Shooter. Yes, it does have a good variety of weapons and upgrades, but it just doesn't deliver a very satisfying oomph. There is an emphasis on shooting smaller numbers of tougher enemies, but I'm not convinced this is the best approach in this kind of game. Exploring the game's mostly empty (and grey) corridors at a slow speed can make the game feel very dull, a feeling that is exacerbated by the lengthy levels, which at times really overstay their welcome. I would have preferred 20 shorter stages as opposed to 10 long ones. What's even worse, is that you can't save during the stage. This wasn't such a big problem on Alien Shooter, when the largest levels were abut 10-15 minutes, but here, the levels can reach over half an hour in duration.

Another annoyance with the game are the completely unnecessary cutscenes; they were so boring and uninteresting that I seriously questioned their reason of inclusion. Sure, they can be skipped, but I really have to wonder if the game's overall quality could be improved by not wasting time and money on them and instead focusing on the most important areas of the game (like the shooting).
Here's hoping that the game's sequel might be better, but I won't be holding my breath.

Full List.

I just finished Rush for Glory. Not a very long game but I finished both the campaign and the mini-games!!!

I aggree, Alien Shooter was more fun.

I never could get Shadowgrounds 2 to run, got it from HumbleBundle, but it doesn't start at all in Linux and in WinXP it refuses to work ingame, probably because of some shaders only new video cards or Win7 supports. :/ I never had a game refuse to work because if this yet.

BTW: I still miss "Theseus - Return of the Hero" in the collection of Alien Shooter 1-2 and Zombie Shooter 1-2 here, it was as much fun as the other games from Sigma.

Beat Bloodrayne last night. Man, the final boss battle is a total pain. Unfortunate when a mostly harmless but enjoyable game goes out on a frustrating note like that.

Hm, it actually took me longer to get the speedrun achievement.

Basically, the thing with the no treasure achievement is that you only need to be careful - you should always whip when you're walking behind grass, columns, other foreground objects; treasure hiding behind stuff ended up being my number 1 run-killer.

Anyway, I just finished Frozen Synapse - one of the best games I have played. I actually started playing it three years ago, then came back to it recently. I am really glad that I did. It is a genuinely fantastic game, despite some little oddities here or there.

Had this game in my library for awhile and played it just long enough to A. realize it was quite boring and B get the trading cards. Your assessment is about what mine would be. Kudos to you for seeing it through to the end though:).

I suppose this doesn't work with ATI cards. :/
Good hint.

It actually does (my card is a Radeon HD 6770). Just give it a try.