Game review
Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's Edition
5.3 / 10
- Developer
- Boomzap Entertainment
- Publisher
- BFG Entertainment
- Released
- 7 September 2017
- Platforms
- Windows
- Genre
- Adventure
- Monetisation
- One-time purchase, no DLC or in-app purchases.
- Players
- Single-player only
The short version
Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's Edition is the third entry in Boomzap Entertainment's hidden-object adventure series, sending returning heroes into a rugged, snow-peaked goblin realm. Steam's aggregate reads Positive at 82% of 22 English-language reviews, and this review read all 4 negative reviews plus a sample of the positive side.
The franchise clearly has real, nostalgic devotion behind it — several reviewers describe the series as a genuine part of their childhood, and this entry specifically draws praise for its art style, story, and puzzle balance. What holds a meaningful share of the negative sample back, however, is a specific and severe technical problem: three of the four negative reviews independently describe the mouse cursor disappearing during play, with one reporting the game crashed their computer entirely when attempting to quit. This review found no evidence of any Steam-specific patch addressing the issue — the game has no recorded public update history and no configured achievements, consistent with a title that received no dedicated support after its Steam release.
Biggest strengths
- A genuinely well-regarded entry in a beloved series, with multiple reviewers describing real, long-standing nostalgic attachment to the franchise since childhood
- Praised art style that reviewers say evolves naturally from earlier entries while keeping the series' visual identity
- Well-balanced puzzle difficulty according to several reviewers, neither too easy nor too hard, with specific praise for tangram-style puzzles
Biggest weaknesses
- The single most serious complaint across this small sample: the mouse cursor disappearing during play, reported independently by three of the four negative reviews, with one describing it as making the game "nigh impossible to play" and another reporting it crashed their computer when trying to quit
- No map or fast-travel option, compounded by long elevator-animation transitions between zones that at least one reviewer specifically calls out as tedious
- Puzzle design leans heavily on a made-up in-game alphabet, which one reviewer felt became repetitive across the campaign
Who it's for: Existing fans of the Awakening series or hidden-object adventure fans generally, prepared to accept a real chance of hitting a serious cursor-visibility bug.
Our recommendation: Worth it for series fans specifically, given the genuine warmth this entry draws — but be aware of the cursor bug several reviewers report before buying, and have a plan to troubleshoot display settings if you hit it.
5.3 / 10
Introduction
Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's Edition is the third entry in Boomzap Entertainment's hidden-object adventure series, sending returning heroes into a rugged, snow-peaked goblin realm after earlier adventures through the Dreamless Castle and Moonfell Wood. Published by BFG Entertainment, it launched on Steam on 7 September 2017 at NZ$28.99. Its 22 English-language reviews sit at 82% positive, Positive. This review read all 4 negative reviews in that sample alongside a range of the positive side.
A genuinely beloved series
This franchise clearly holds real, long-standing affection for a lot of its players. "This game was my whole childhood and it never occurred to me that it was a Saga. I love the whole set, and it is just beautiful," reads one review from a player with 283 hours logged across the series. Another calls it "my favorite series game from Big Fish," praising the art style and storytelling directly. This specific entry draws its own praise too — "Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom... just might be my favorite of the bunch," reads one detailed review, crediting well-balanced puzzles and consistent art direction as reasons why.
A serious, corroborated bug
Against that backdrop of genuine fondness, the negative-review sample converges on a specific, severe technical problem. "When this game loads my mouse pointer disappears. It is nigh impossible to play the game without being able to see your mouse," reads one detailed review, adding that attempting to quit crashed their computer entirely. A second reviewer, independently: "I do not recommend this game because it has a problem where you cannot see the mouse." A third describes the same category of failure preventing them from progressing past the third room despite trying multiple troubleshooting steps. Even a positive review notes "there seemed to be a glitch where the visuals refused to be shown in full screen," a related display issue from a different angle. That's four separate accounts, spanning both sides of the aggregate, describing overlapping visibility and display problems.
No sign of dedicated support
This review checked for any public update history or patch addressing these issues and found none — no news posts, and no achievements configured for the game at all, consistent with a Steam release that received no dedicated post-launch attention. For a title with this level of nostalgic goodwill behind it, that's a real disappointment for the subset of buyers who hit display issues with no apparent fix available.
Verdict
Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's Edition is a genuinely well-loved entry in a series many players grew up with, and its art, story and puzzle balance draw real, specific praise even from this review's small negative sample. But a serious, independently corroborated cursor-visibility bug recurs across multiple accounts, with no evidence of a fix ever being released. Worth it for existing series fans prepared to troubleshoot display settings if needed; a riskier pick for newcomers with no particular attachment to the franchise already.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A genuinely well-regarded entry in a beloved series, with multiple reviewers describing real, long-standing nostalgic attachment to the franchise since childhood
- Praised art style that reviewers say evolves naturally from earlier entries while keeping the series' visual identity
- Well-balanced puzzle difficulty according to several reviewers, neither too easy nor too hard, with specific praise for tangram-style puzzles
- Strong hidden-object scene quality, called out specifically as a highlight even by more critical reviewers
Cons
- The single most serious complaint across this small sample: the mouse cursor disappearing during play, reported independently by three of the four negative reviews, with one describing it as making the game "nigh impossible to play" and another reporting it crashed their computer when trying to quit
- No map or fast-travel option, compounded by long elevator-animation transitions between zones that at least one reviewer specifically calls out as tedious
- Puzzle design leans heavily on a made-up in-game alphabet, which one reviewer felt became repetitive across the campaign
- This review found no public update history or configured achievements for the game, consistent with a title that received no dedicated post-launch support on Steam
- Reported crashes when exiting to the main menu, separate from the cursor-visibility bug
Screenshots
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Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's EditionImage: BFG Entertainment via Steam -
Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's EditionImage: BFG Entertainment via Steam -
Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom Collector's EditionImage: BFG Entertainment via Steam -
How the review scores each part of the gameWanderer Editorial -
The essentials at a glanceWanderer Editorial -
The short versionWanderer Editorial