Big Fish Games’ first adventure debut plays something like a Room Escape game crossed with a collection of mini-games. The result is very playable and replayable – not to mention dazzling.
The storyline is the typical soul-got-locked-into-object-save-me plea of an adventure game, and it plays like a puzzle game such as the 7th Guest than it does an “adventure” game like Day of the Tentacle. All instances of hunting for objects and using them is contained in a single screen and it feels a lot like the locks in MCF: Ravenhearst.
Azada is very forgiving when it comes to providing hints. Every time you use a hint, it subtracts 5 minutes. You’re likely to only need one to two hints, so it’s pretty simple to figure things out. The alloted 30 minutes or so for each level is extremely generous – I needed maybe 2-3 minutes for each screen. Your mileage may vary, depending on your level of experience with adventure games. The fact that all the objects can be used in the same scene shortens the gameplay time by just that little bit as well – in an adventure game we’re usually juggling a full inventory and 30 or so locations to use them in. In Azada there maybe a maximum of 5 objects and 1 screen at a time.
Azada features gorgeous particle effects that seems, well, straight out of Mystic Inn. Not that that’s a bad thing, mind you – animation is smooth and fluid, shading is realistic, light seems to glow right off of objects. The effect is simply stunning. Even though the game only runs at 800×600 it looks like 1024×768 full screen. The music is almost Disney-esque, or as Stu puts it, “would you turn off that Fantasia already?” It’s not bad at all. All the sound effects – and there are many – goes off without a hitch and never sound out of place.
There are 31 mini-games in Azada. Yup. You heard me. 31. That’s a lot of mini-games. There are no Diner Dash clones or Match-3’s in here like Escape From Paradise, but rather, classic puzzles such as English peg solitaire, Hanoi tower, matchstick puzzles, Mastermind and the old game that we used to play on grid paper, squares. All of these are beautifully executed, though sometimes a bit too simple. They’re likely to take you less than a minute each. When you’ve finish one you can go back to the shelves and play them any time you like, some of them randomized. Puzzles like Matchsticks have extra levels if you go back to play them.
Here’s a list:
- Symbols – Sudoku clone
- Squares – Dots and boxes.
- Matchsticks – classic matchstick puzzles.
- The Shapes – Chinese Tangrams.
- Sliders – Traffic Jam / Rush Hour. Or you can try this Bunny Magic game I host.
- The torn-up image – jigsaw with straight edges.
- Connect Three – connect three to clicking. Boring.
- The Colors – Simon. Visual and audio cues is a nice touch.
- Butterflies – Find the identical butterfly (There is only one pair in each map that is identical)
- The Pyramid – Swap tiles that are next to each other to form an image. Easy.
- The Stamps – memory match.
- Puzzle by numbers – find number by adding and subtracting the numbers in the map.
- Round and round – move color cubes into same color boxes with a circular cursor.
- The Towers – Hanoi tower.
- Sequences – Figure out the next symbol in sequence. Too easy.
- The Runes – find all same or all different…pretty interesting.
- Pawns – English peg solitaire.
- Building blocks – move blocks around until it looks like what’s in the reference map. Feels like work.
- Final Approach – bounce a ball around with arrow buttons until it falls into the hole. The solutions are often so obvious it just feels like work. Reminds me of the old Castlemouse.
- The Robot – The robot will walk straight in front of him, and you put arrows on the ground to guide him to his batteries. Clone of Tiny Worlds, without the wolves.
- Pipes – pipe dream, but you have to close off all the exits of the pipes, and the ooze doesn’t chase you.
- The maze – a simple maze
- Chemicals – Mastermind.
If you enjoy puzzle games such as the 7th Guest, you will get quite a lot of enjoyment out of this game. However, if you’re a puzzle expert (such as myself) who knows how to solve the English peg solitaire down to the last peg, the Hanoi Tower in the least number of moves, grew up playing Tangrams and Traffic Jam, and passed time in class playing Matchsticks and Squares, this might be a bit of a short romp through the genre.
Overall, Azada is a great marriage between old fashion point and click adventure games and the casual game genre. I really enjoyed the room escape parts of the game, and some of the mini-games are great, while others felt like work since there’s not so much puzzling to it as there is just clicking. It’d be wonderful to see Big Fish Games tackle a classic point-and-clicker since they seem to have a knack for logical puzzles.
June 29, 2007 at 6:05 pm
I can’t get the coordinates on the map in the library to click can you help me?
June 29, 2007 at 7:30 pm
you can’t get them to “click”?
What do you mean? I have a walkthrough here:
Just make sure you have N/S right, as well as whether is it – or normal on the first number.
June 29, 2007 at 7:34 pm
I have coordinates correct but just won’t work I will try one more time.
June 29, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Ok my coordinates are out of book E it says -96 and out of Book L it says 10N all I can find on map are -96,0 and when I click on it it says nothing happens so I tried 10N and all I can find is 10,0 and I click it and it says nothing happens, Now what? I am so stuck, and to think I bought this game.
June 29, 2007 at 8:28 pm
you have to use BOTH. Find -96, 10N. Keep looking, you’ll find it! Find -96 first, then try to move vertically until you find -96, 10N.
June 30, 2007 at 1:05 am
Okay so I am stuck on the last level of chapter 3. When you have to move the circles to put the picture back together, but can only see one circle at a time. It’s driving me NUTS!! Please help.
June 30, 2007 at 9:17 am
i just finished azada – its really fun. now i am wondering, what’s up next?
He said: remember “hmpf” ( wont tell now ).
so, i am interested in for WHAT i should remember that?
As oyu said, i also enjoyed the room-puzzles most.
June 30, 2007 at 11:26 am
Megan: I know what you mean – just line up the outside three with the “white” stripe along the middle, and then once you’re done that drag the middle one in increments til it matches up.
Great game…I wrote a walkthrough too.
June 30, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I’m having trouble with the pipes puzzle – any hints? Please
June 30, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I never had trouble with it…just make sure all the ends are closed off.
June 30, 2007 at 12:38 pm
and it’s randomly generated so it’s hard for me to throw a hint out you know? Maybe I’ll write a hint file for all the puzzles too.
June 30, 2007 at 5:34 pm
I am having the most problems in Azada with the Matchstick puzzle, specifically the Five boxes to Four puzzle. Also, I can’t seem to figure out the squares puzzle. Any suggestions?
June 30, 2007 at 6:18 pm
Think OUTSIDE of the box. Think 4 boxes not touching each other aside from the corners.
The squares puzzle – try to put lines down that doesn’t form a 3-sided box. You’re trying to take turns making boxes, so the strategy is NOT to try to move towards making one. Wait until the computer make a mistake (it does) or you run out of options.
At which point, do form a 3 sided square, but ONLY in areas where you know the computer can’t make too many combos. Then it’s your turn.
June 30, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Okay so I still can’t get the circle puzzle at the end of chapter 3. I don’t understand when you say match up the white stripe. All the circles have a little bit of white in them, and in two different areas. You should post a walk through for it. I just can’t get it. It seems like such a waste because I bought this game, and can’t even get past level three!!!!
June 30, 2007 at 10:27 pm
The circle jigsaw – I’d have to play the game over to get back to that part.
Spin the circles around until you can make out lines, and then try to line those up. Don’t worry about the orientation of the puzzle – when it’s finished it’ll spin itself around.
That one took me a while too! Thankfully there’s no timer on it.
July 1, 2007 at 6:30 am
I’m having issues with the Pipes game. I closed off all the ends, but I can’t get anything to happen. Is there a button to push or something else that I am missing?
July 1, 2007 at 9:28 am
On replaying, I had a problem with the numbers game not working, but not with the pipes game…maybe it’s time to start emailing the fish.
July 2, 2007 at 11:18 am
Hi,
Re the birthday party, chapter 10.
I have spelled out my word, abracadabra and have my 4 numbers but every time I put the darts in the dartboard it says “need to find out what to do first”. Any idea, what I am doing wrong?
Many thanks.
July 2, 2007 at 11:32 am
Did you put the numbers in the dartboard in the order of abracadabra? (it’s really easy to mix up the first and last number)
July 2, 2007 at 12:32 pm
Hi Sally,
thanks so much for your speedy reply. This is driving me bonkers! Yes, I have my numbers 8, 6, 10 and 12 in the correct order for abracadabra.
I must be putting the darts in wrong somehow, why are there 4 darts stuck together? Which bit of which dart should go into the dartboard and is it any bit of that segment, or in the number for that segment? Aaaagrgh, please save my sanity.
Many thanks.
July 2, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Hi Sally,
have worked out what I was doing wrong. The correct numbered segment on the dartboard needs to light up and the actual darts don’t actually line up correctly in the dartboard.
Does a little dance.
Many thanks.
July 2, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Argh…that’s weird. It doesn’t matter which part of the dart goes in – try mixing up the numbers to see if it’s any different.
July 2, 2007 at 4:15 pm
hi,
i feel very stupid, i am at the beginning of chapter 4 where there is a jigsaw puzzle, with a big circle in the middle, cannot figure it out, help please thank you
July 2, 2007 at 4:38 pm
so sorry meant the end of chapter 4 where jigsaw puzzle is with black circle in middle, have spent so much time and am getting no where, any help will be appreciated
July 4, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Does anyone know what it means at the end when it says there are more books? I wrote down the code magic book that it says at the end but am wondering what to do with that? Does it somehow unlock another series of puzzles in this game?
July 4, 2007 at 1:16 pm
I think they’re just hinting at a sequel.
July 4, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Terri/ Check my walktthrough – I’ve uploaded vids for the circular puzzles.
July 5, 2007 at 3:08 am
Has anyone else had trouble with the code in the Tomb? I can’t get the code to work. When I click on the first symbol of the code and then click on the hourglass as many times at the code says, I get a message stating, ” The lock reset itself. Maybe something else is involved in opening it.” When I click on the second symbol of the code, I get the message, ” We may need to find the code.” What am I missing? Thanks.
July 5, 2007 at 8:57 am
Sandi/ you might want to click the link to my walkthrough. There are instructions there, and if you click on the images they lead you to videos.
July 7, 2007 at 10:21 am
I am stuck one chapter 4. I can’t get past round and round. Everytime I get one I loose it when I try for another
July 14, 2007 at 2:47 am
Please could you help me .. I have had to restart 3 times now as I can’t do the library .. my co ordinates are book E -94 book S 65 when I put one in .. nothing happens .. can’t put two into gether .. please please help
thanking you in hope for a simple answer x
July 14, 2007 at 6:07 am
sorry that should have read E -84 & S 65
Please help ..
I keep trying.. but nothing is working
please …please
July 18, 2007 at 10:13 am
Is there a sequel? Please let there be a sequel my husband and son have always been the foreward thinkers in these types of puzzles and I beat both of them a number of times, it was great.
July 18, 2007 at 10:23 am
The word “magic book” hints at a sequel, definitely. The game has also been extremely popular and successful, so I’m sure Big Fish wouldn’t stop at just one game.
Although we’d probably have to wait for MONTHS. I mean, think about how long Ravenhearst and Prime Suspects was apart.
July 23, 2007 at 1:33 am
hi, like r16, i can’t figure out the pipes. please help!
July 23, 2007 at 1:55 pm
check my pipes post:
July 26, 2007 at 12:09 pm
what do in the end. when i’m mixing potions i can only mix blue and yellow into green but when i try to put red i get a message: maybe we should use that potion somewhere else?
July 28, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Hi,
I’m on Chapter 7.
And Puzzle by Numbers doesn’t work?
July 28, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Kylie/ did you check the hints/walkthroughs on this site? You can find them by clicking on home and doing a search.
(click on the “instructions” in Azada during that puzzle too. They might have changed.)
Instead of 6=4+2, try 6=2+2+2.
July 29, 2007 at 7:44 am
hi all just wanted to mention… the “eastern” word for freedom is not azada its AZADI and its a word from Pakistan’s national language “URDU”.
July 29, 2007 at 7:13 pm
I’m on the end of chapter 4, the last jigsaw type puzzle before getting the message from the pages. I cannot for the life of me figure it out. Only thing I can think of is my puzzle pieces are not exactly in the right place, meaning move them a hair left or right or something. Here’s a screenshot of what I am looking at:
July 29, 2007 at 7:17 pm
nevermind, I needd to post a comment here before trying to move them around in the same order 🙂
August 17, 2007 at 2:28 am
I cannot solve the tower puzzle with six rings in chapter nine. Help!?
August 17, 2007 at 11:32 am
the tower puzzles as well as some others are discussed here:
August 19, 2007 at 7:44 pm
To who ever can help me with chapter 8 The Machine. I can pick up the crystal,but I can not get it to drop in the shute on the left. The claw will go to the left and open, but nothing happens. Is there a trick to it? I have been trying this for 4 weeks now.Please help! Thanks Midge
August 19, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Hi Midge,
Lori posted this over in the walkthrough section, but I’ll repost it here for you.
“Lori Myers Says:
July 29, 2007 at 5:23 pm e
Anyone having trouble with the CRYSTAL PICK UP “DEVICE” MACHINE? There are 6 buttons. Start from the left, first button is #1 and last button is #6.
HERE IS THE SOULTION FOR CRYSTAL PICK UP.
Hit #1 button twice
Hit #2 button three times
Hit #5 button once
Hit #4 button twice
Hit #3 button five times
Hit #6 button once
This should pick up the crystal. GOOD LUCK”
November 21, 2011 at 4:28 pm
did not work, I tried so many combinations, for the ipad, did not work, must be a glitch…
August 2, 2013 at 11:24 am
Doesn’t work for me either, picks up the Crystal then a message appears stating you need to find out where to drop it then drops it there and then 😦
August 28, 2007 at 11:43 pm
I am also stuck on the mixing potions part…I mix the yellow and the green and after that I can’t do anything else. Everything I try gives me the message that I need to do something else first.
August 30, 2007 at 5:42 am
Balancing Act
Ok I got the stones, I got the man on the scale. Everytime I try to add the stones to right side of the scale it says “nothing Happens” Why won’t it allow me to balance the weight. Am I missing something? I’ve tried adding stones together first, but this doesn’t seem to do anything. I’ve searched for a more detailed answer to this portion of the puzzle and can’t find anything. Help!!!
September 4, 2007 at 12:38 pm
For Michelle, see where the level of the right scale is then take the idol off the scales and work out which 2 stones weigh the same as the idol
September 4, 2007 at 12:40 pm
for ME 2 above michelle, put the red on the piece of paper that says red twice once green,
September 5, 2007 at 8:11 am
Thanks sooooo much maria! I couldn’t have done it without you!
September 6, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I freed the man from the painting and he gave me a password to continue, but I Can’t figure out how. Please help.
September 17, 2007 at 5:07 am
I have the exact same problem.
the man gives the code, but you can only play the puzzles again and nothing happens. Anybody here who knows if there’s more??
September 23, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Balancing act….I get the two stones on the scale but I cant get the right stones on the other pillar to work any help will improve my dwindling sanity thanks
September 23, 2007 at 5:25 pm
marg/ keep trying – unfortunately, the stones that work on the scale is RANDOMIZED each time you play. So you just have to find stones that would match the shining line.
September 24, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Balancing act I found the two stones that work but then instead of putting the other stones on the pillar MOVE the TWO from the scale to the pillar….hope that helps someone out there
October 17, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Ch. 10, Birthday party, i know this should be easy, i know iam suppose to spell ABRACADABRA with the darts in a sequence, but it will not let me go pass the AB, i have tried twice and wasted the 45 mins twice, just on this puzzle alone..Help!
October 17, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Hi Vicki, check out the graphical walkthrough linked above. There’s a list of comments in there you might find helpful as well.
November 6, 2007 at 5:13 pm
I have completed all levels. I exit at the end and save. However the next time I sign on I go to the room with all the puzzles you can play again and many of them say “this game cannot be played until it has been unlocked in the book first.” I have unlocked all the pages and puzzles and can’t figure out why I am getting this message. Anyone else have this porblem?
November 9, 2007 at 11:28 am
Can’t get out of the balancing act of ch. 9 in its last stage. I’m too dumb, seems to me, to understand that dictionnary and translate it to the round at the left. Somebody can help ?¿?¿ Have only 5 min left 😦
March 13, 2008 at 11:32 am
Pipes_ it’s easier to start from the end than from the beginning.
I’m having trouble with the coordinates in the LIbrary too. Cannot seem to make it work! Will keep trying tho.
March 14, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Habe ein Problem in Chapter 10 beim Uhrwerk.
Schaffe es nicht am Ende die Soldatenuhr und die Kuckucksuhr klingeln zu lassen und dann die Weckzeit einzustellen.
Benötige Hilfe. Danke im Voraus
March 27, 2008 at 10:38 am
hi i am in the library and the coordinates are driving me crazy every time i try to click on them it says nothing happened i have read your comments on here and i still dont understand what i have to do, which books do i get the coordinates out of?
January 24, 2012 at 10:39 pm
was driving me crazy as well you need to find the co ordinates from the machine once you get the band, you turn the machine on then the co ordinates from there are a little tricky to find on the map, you need to find the first without clicking on it move the courser down until you find the next co ordinate hope this helps
March 27, 2008 at 10:40 am
hi, i am in the library and the coordinates are driving me crazy, i have tried to click on them but it keeps saying nothing happened, i have read your comments on here and i still dont understand what i am supposed to do, which books do i get the coordinates out of? please help me i really want to get further i love the game just cant get past this section.
June 1, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Wow, I wish I had just a fragment of your intelligence! I am stuck on the circle at end of Chap3, is there a visual of this puzzle? Thank you ,
June 22, 2008 at 6:40 pm
This might help with the coordinates. The same numbers are on the left as on the right, only one set has ( – ) in front of it. You have to locate the correct side. The same thing with the north and south coordinates.
July 31, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I, too, am wondering why all the puzzles are not unlocked after you finish the game without using any orbs. In particular, I’d like to play the squares game. any thoughts or some such?
November 14, 2008 at 3:04 pm
can someone tell me pls what is the code number from the end of first game cause i need it for azada ancient magic,thanks
December 28, 2008 at 10:46 am
The code doesn’t work for me in the eye test in Chapter 4. Has this happened to anyone else and if so, how did you get past it? Thanks.
December 30, 2008 at 6:51 am
This is for people working the puzzles with codes and with the pipes – the game doesn’t always work. You can have the correct sequence of codes and you can have the correct pipe configuration but the puzzle won’t release. The only way out is to let the timer run and restart the chapter. This is a problem with the game and not necessarily with you. Write Big Fish.
July 16, 2009 at 9:44 am
when i have finished all the chapters and set the old man free, he said remember these words [magic book] and took me to a room that had all the puzzles that i had solved before ,i don’t know what to do to finish this game ? please help me
September 1, 2009 at 11:52 am
Hi, I’m so stuck at the end of chapter 3, make 3 boxes out of 4 matchsicks puzzle !! HELP !
October 4, 2009 at 7:01 am
can you help to resolve me the circle puzzle? I don’t succeed in seeing the video that you have put therefore I don’t know whether to resolve the circle puzzle help me please!!
October 9, 2009 at 4:48 am
aiuto cm si risolve il circle puzzel del livello 10 ???????????
November 21, 2009 at 10:31 am
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February 28, 2010 at 5:45 am
I have ended up seeking all about for that info. Happily my partner and i seen this at Msn.
September 9, 2010 at 9:45 am
Regarding Puzzle by Numbers what exactly do you have to do? It takes me ages to finish this one and I think I am going wrong somewhere. Do you have to use all the numbers in each row? I seem to just go round haphazardly and maybe this is not correct.
March 21, 2011 at 6:20 pm
For the life of me I cannot get the darts in birthday party to work on my IPAD. Is there a glitch? Any hints? I have lost my mind.
April 22, 2011 at 12:46 pm
I finished Chapter 4, got to the end game where there are 9 scrolls and then a puzzle board and a play button – nothing happens, has this happened to anyone else
playing on ipad
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hello,
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