GAME HELP

Players are sometimes put-off by games because they get stuck. There IS help out there. If you are purchasing a major console game and paying about $40 to $50 for it, protect your investment by investing in a strategy guide from one of the major publishers, Brady Games or Prima Games. These soft-covered books come with more that just a strategy. Screenshots, artwork, back story, statistics, character descriptions can sometimes make these a work of art in themselves – even good reading.

The other path to take is to go online with a search engine and type in "walkthrough name-of-game" You will be directed to a number of sites that will have walkthroughs. These are usually no-frills, text-based files that will give you step by step directions to play through the game. They will try not to spoil the story or outcome by giving too much information or else they will warn you about a "spoiler" to come, so you can avoid looking at that part of the walkthrough if you wish.

Finally – if you are having problems, it may be because of a bug in the game. For this, go to the game producer's website to check it out. Often there will be a message board there with other people asking and answering questions. These do get results. A while ago in Myst VI the time constraints were so short for two of the puzzles that players couldn't get past them, and thus couldn't complete the game at all. Many players made comments through the game site and Ubisoft ultimately sent a patch out that extended the time. Never forget the power of your voice.

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