Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom

I was expecting to wait much, much longer for the third game in the Awakening series to come out, so it was a complete surprise when I saw that the sequel appeared less than a year after the second game. This is such a winning series with lush graphics, pleasant music and challenging puzzles. Picking up where the second game left off, Princess Sophia finds clues to the disappearance of the humans in the goblin kingdom. The goblins are pretty friendly looking - I would call them more hobbits than anything else.

The puzzles this time around had more variety, including a couple of mazes, and they were more challenging as well. It's really good to see a series grow up! While part of the plot was easy to see coming, another part wasn't, so the storytelling really pleased me. In addition to the pocket dragon from the last game, Princess Sophia has a purple companion owl that is a hoot! He gives hints.

The only disappointing part of the game for me was the gnome village. The artwork fell apart rather unusually and either this section was a design challenge, the last part worked on or had some changes. Still, for six or so hours of entertainment, this is a great sequel and lovely casual game.