Halloween Update

The Halloween update was introduced on the 20th of October 2015.

The Halloween Update added 2 new Hidden Object Locations to the game - Shack and Haunted House, as well as added 130 new Quests and 20 new Collections.

A number of other changes to the game came with the update, most noticeable of which was changes to the timed allowed for the Mosaic and Ancient Cards Puzzles; removal of Step mode in the Treasure Box puzzle (now all games are timed instead); extra items being added to the Free Gift options in the Gifting system and the redesign of a number of original Hidden Object Locations such as Ballroom and Garden.

The Update also introduced Timed Challenges to the game for the second time. Players have a limited amount of time to complete 2 special challenges in the game in order to win unique rewards.

The Halloween Timed Challenge
The Halloween timed challenges begin when a player reaches game level 7 in the game (or automatically after downloading the update if the player is already beyond level 7). The Halloween timed event introduced 2 new challenges for players to complete within a set time frame: Note: 'Piece of Eight' special items are needed in addition to energy points for each play of the Haunted House Hidden Object Location. For the duration of the challenge, Pieces of Eight can be won as rewards for winning Hidden Object games in Garden; Hunter's House; Train Station; Observatory; Marketplace; Clothing Store; Docks; Alley; Clock Tower; Ballroom; Dressing Room; Cafe; and Mayor's Office (i.e. every other Hidden Object Location in the game).
 * Complete 30 special challenge quests and assemble the new Great Captain artifact (increases your chances of receiving collection items and Fixers when exploring Locations by 50% for 3 days) to win a Pirate Chest that adds +5 energy to a players maximum energy.
 * Reach 'Virtuoso' Rank non the new Hidden Object Location 'Haunted House' and win a special game Avatar.

Pieces of Eight cannot be given as gifts between Friends or bought in the Store, however they are given as rewards for combining some of the new Collections in the game (namely the Collections needed to combine the Great Captain Artifact that you naturally complete as you complete the 30 special challenge quests.

Important: The amount of time available for the Foggy Ship Update's timed challenges is set and the countdown timer began as soon as the update was released in the Apple App Store. Players have been given 29 days beginning on the 20th of October 2015. The timer will expire on the October 20th 2015 unless an extension is given. It does not matter when you download the update, this finish date is set. If you download the update on the 22nd of October you will have 28 days to complete the challenge, and if you wait until the 10th of November to download the update you will only have 10 days to complete the challenge. Delaying installing the update will not delay the timer.

The Challenge Quests; the Great Captain Artifact; and the Pirate Chest
The Pirate Chest can be won once a player completes all 30 of the special Foggy Ship Quests and then combines the new Great Captain Artifact. The 30 special Quests ask the player to find all the items for and then combine the 5 Collections needed to combine the Great Captain Artifact, so once the players completes the 30 special quests they will be immediately able to combine the Artifact and so complete this challenge and collect the Pirate Chest and have +5 added to their maximum energy. The quests must be completed and the new Artifact combined within the 29 day time limit of the Timed Challenge in order to win the Pirate Chest and maximum energy boost.

A special decorative border, of a Ship's wheel decorated with sea shells, in the quest list marks the 30 challenge quests needed to win the Pirate Chest. Other quests added by the update, with regular plain borders, do not count towards the 30 when completed.

Note: the very first quest that displays the special decorative border is the quest to find the key needed to unlock and open the Ship picture. However, this quest does not count towards the 30 quests needed to win the Pirate Chest. This means there are actually 31 quests that display the decorative border, but only the last 30 of them count towards the challenge. But importantly, you will need to complete this first quest in order to complete the challenge as the 30 quests that make up the challenge will not start until this quest is completed (there is only ever one quest with a special decorative border active at any one time) and the other quests require you to play Ship (which this quest opens).

The special 30 quests that must be completed in order to win the Pirate Chest and maximum energy boost consist of 5 collection sequences of 6 quests each. The first 5 quests of each sequence are to find each of the 5 items belonging to one new collection added by the update. The 6th quest is to combine that collection.

The 5 collections players gather as they complete the 30 quests are:


 * 1) Signs of a Pirate (combines to create "Map Fragment"and rewards 10 Pieces of Eight when combined)
 * 2) Ship's Treasure (combines to create "Sack of Diamonds" and rewards 15 Pieces of Eight when combined)
 * 3) Ben's Collection (combines to create "Message in a Bottle" and rewards 20 Pieces of Eight when combined)
 * 4) Real Sailor (combines to create "Sailor's Cap" and rewards 25 Pieces of Eight when combined)
 * 5) Ghost Hunting (combines to create "Ouija Board" and rewards 30 Pieces of Eight when combined)

All the items that make up these collections cannot be gifted between friends (they do not have green plus signs to add them to your Wish List and they will not appear in the 'Send a collection item' tab when sending gifts to your friends). They are all also 'Quest only' items, which means that they cannot be won normally by playing Hidden Object/Puzzle games. They are only available to win in the Locations while the quest for the particular item is activated and will stop being available to win in that picture once the quest is completed.

These collection items may also drop as random items when you are visiting your friends and charging their desktops; from the Collectors Trophy when collecting its rewards; and from opening some Chests, however whether or not you get any of these items in those ways is completely up to chance. This means that the only guaranteed way to complete these quests is to follow the quest instructions as you get the quests. This makes these 30 challenge quests slightly more difficult than normal quests, most of which could be gifted between friends or won in regular play of certain Locations.

Warning: Once you have completed all of the special challenge quests and combined the Great Captain Artifact, the Fixers (combining elements) needed for both above collections (Compass Rose; Life Preserver; and Pirate Bandana) and the Artifact itself (Bottle of Sand; Sailor's Shirt; Sea Salt; and Sea Urchin) will no longer be available to win in the game. The only way to gain more of any of these Fixers at this pointis via gifts from your Friends (they are all Free Gifts). These Fixers are not required for any other Collections/Artifacts in the game and the items needed to for the Collections are not winnable during regular play (they are quest only items) so you should not need any of these Fixers again, however it is possible to win the items for these collections from other ways such as visiting friends, the collectors trophy and chests, and if you do collect all 5 items for one of the quests you will need to request these Fixers as gifts from your Friends. It is likely that an update to the game will remove them entirely from the game, or else change them so that they can be won in other ways (the former is more likely since they are clearly restricted on purpose once the challenge is complete).

The Challenge Quests
The 30 special quests that are needed to complete this challenge are:



The Great Captain Artifact
Once the quests are completed, you will have combined 1 each of all 5 Collections needed to create the Great Captain Artifact. The Great Captain Artifact increases your chances of receiving Collection items and Fixers when exploring Locations by 50% for 3 days when it is activated.

Important: You must then combine this Artifact in order to complete this section of the Challenge and win the additional Pirate Chest and +5 maximum reward.

To combine the Great Captain Artifact, you must open the Artifacts Tab of the Collections Window, and scroll down to the bottom of the list. The Great Captain Artifact is the last Artifact in the list of Artifacts. To combine the Artifact you need one each of 5 collections (obtained while completing the 30 quests) and a number of Fixers. If you have all the requirements, the combine button next to the Great Captain Artifact will be Green and you can combine the Artifact. If the Combine button is grey, you are missing at least one of the required collections to make the artifact. If the Combine button is brown, you have the right Collections but are missing at least one Fixer required to combine the Collection. You will need to obtain the missing items before you can create the Artifact and finish the 30 Special Quests Challenge.

The Fixers required to combine the Great Captain Artifact are:

Warning: Once you have completed all of the special challenge quests and combined the Great Captain Artifact, the Fixers (combining elements) needed for both above collections (Compass Rose; Life Preserver; and Pirate Bandana) and the Artifact itself (Bottle of Sand; Sailor's Shirt; Sea Salt; and Sea Urchin) will no longer be available to win in the game. The only way to gain more of any of these Fixers at this pointis via gifts from your Friends (they are all Free Gifts). They will diappear from the optional rewards that you can receive from banishing the above Monsters.

Once the Great Captain Artifact is combined, you will receive a notification that you have completed the 30 Quest Challenge and won the Pirate Chest. At this point the +5 will automatically be added to your maximum energy.



This means that your maximum energy will be 5 higher than the base maximum energy for your current game level (see base maximum energy for each level on this page if you are unsure whether you received the reward upon complettion of the quests - if your maximum energy is 5 higher than that listed in this table then you have received the boost for completing the special quests and combining the Great Captain Artifact).

This +5 maximum energy boost will carry forward as you continue to increase your game level, i.e. you will always have 5 more maximum energy than the base maximum energy listed for whatever level you are on.

Both the Artifact and the Chest will automatically go into your Inventory. You must go to the Inventory in order to Activate the Artifact.

The Great Captain Artifact can be found in the Talismans Tab of the Inventory Window (1st tab, symbol of an Owl). Tapping on the Great Captain Artifact in this Tab will bring up an information box for the Artifact which will explain its function and allow you to activate it.

Tapping on either the red 'Cancel' button at the bottom of the information window or the brown 'X' on the top right of the information window, will exit the window without activating the Artifact.

Tapping the green 'Use' button at the bottom of the information box will activate the Artifact. An information bubble will appear on the right hand side of your Darkwood Town Map with a timer that will start counting down from 3 days. For as long as the Artifact is active, you will have a 50% greater chance of winning Collection items and Fixers for every Hidden Object or Puzzle game you win. Tapping on the bubble on the Darkwood Town Map will bring up an information box for the Artifact, which has a live running timer and explains the Artifacts function.

The Pirate Chest
Once the Great Captain Artifact is combined, you will receive a notification that you have completed the 30 Quest Challenge and won the Pirate Chest. Your maximum energy will automatically be increased by 5 points when this happens.

Both the Artifact and the Chest will automatically go into your Inventory. You must go to the Inventory Window in order to use the Chest. The Pirate Chest can be found in the Chests Tab of the Inventory Window (4th tab, symbol of a box). Tapping on the Pirate Chest in this Tab will bring up an information box for the Chest which will explain what is inside and allow you to open it to collect these rewards.

Tapping on the green 'Open' button at the bottom of this information window will open the Chest and you will receive the rewards inside. The chest will then disappear from the Chest tab of the Inventory.

Tapping on the brown 'X' button on the top right of this information window will close the window without opening the chest. The Chest will remain in the Chest tab of the Inventory until you open it and collect the rewards inside.

The Pirates Chest containts the following rewards:
 * 2x 'Belgium Waffles' Energy Item (restores 100 energy points)
 * 1x 'Cake' Energy Item (restores 150 energy points)
 * 1x 'Magic Folio' Talisman (+100% experience points for 2hrs)
 * 1x 'Seeker's Star' Talisman (+90% luck for 2hrs)
 * 1x 'Magic Ingot' Talisman (+100% coins earned for 2hrs)
 * 5x 'Thunder Amulet' Talisman (energy restores 5 times faster for 90 minutes)

Hints/Tips for Completing the Challenge Quests
Although it will take many plays of Ship to complete the 30 quests, there are things you can do to make the challenge easier:


 * 1) Valuable_Pyramid_Artifact.png Use the strongest Luck Talismans/Artifacts you have available whenever you are playing a Location that rewards a Quest item. This will increase the number items you win for each play, which will increase you chances of winning the Quest item you are currently looking for. Seeker's Star Talismans (+90% chance of winning items for 120 minutes) and the Valuable Pyramid Artifact (+50% chance of winning items for 24 hours) are the most powerful Luck Talismans available in the game, so when playing other Locations choose Locations which award items needed for collections that reward these Talismans. You will need to play other pictures during the challenge anyway to collect Pieces of Eight to play Ship, so by making sure that Treasure Box; Ancient Cards; Docks; Clothing Store and Mosaic are in this rotation (rewards items for collections needed to combine Valuable Pyramid) are in your rotation while you increase your chances of getting more of these powerful luck talismans to use for the quests. (Note: the Puzzles do not reward Pieces of Eight, so they should be played sparingly if possible during the challenges unless actively seeking the items for Collections needed to create the Valuable Pyramid Artifact)
 * 2) Guardian_of_Time_Talisman.png Use your Guardian of Time Talismans during the challenge. The Guardian of Time Talisman works as a luck Talisman (it increases your odds of finding objects by 12% when activated), and is unique among the Talismans in that it can be used at the same time as another Talisman/Artifact of the same function. This means you can add an additional 12% increase in odds of finding objects to other Luck Talismans that you use during the challenge. You can only use one other Luck Talisman once the Guardian of Time Talisman is activated (as you cannot use more than one Luck Talisman at a time), but you can use one of any other Luck Talisman or the Valuable Pyramid Artifact at the same time as Guardian of Time Talisman. The Guardian of Time Talisman lasts for 10 days when activated.
 * 3) The Challenge quests usually ask for you to play Ship, so it is best to continue to work on Ship as normal when playing and not to worry too much about the quests themselves, they will be completed as you go. That is, it is better to concentrate your resources just working on the Avatar challenge - getting Ship to Virtuoso Rank. You will complete the quests naturally as you increase the Location to Virtuoso. The hints/tips for that challenge will therefore also aide in completing this challenge.
 * 4) Read the quest instructions carefully. Most quests just ask you to play Ship, but some will specify a mode. The item will only be available to win when the picture is in the correct mode. Most modes cannot be 'forced', which means you cannot make them appear in rotation. However, 'Text' mode can be triggered by dispelling (not playing) an anomaly from the Location. If the quest asks for Text mode in Ship, then play other Locations (collecting Pieces of Eight that you will need) until an anomaly appears in Ship. You can then dispel the anomaly, making the next mode Text mode.
 * 5) Cannot_Create_Anomaly_Hint.PNG Quests will ask you play Ship when it has a certain Anomaly. Ship is the only Location in the game that rewards Anomaly Summoning items, which can be very useful for these quests. As you play Ship to complete the other quests, you will naturally aquire the items to summon the Anomalies needed to complete the two quests that require them. When you use an Anomaly summoning item, you cannot choose which Location the Anomaly will appear in. However, there are limitations to the Anomaly summoning items that you can take advantage of to ensure that the Anomaly will appear in the Location you want it to (in this case, appear in Ship). Anomaly Summoning items cannot create Anomalies in Locations that already have Anomalies or in Locations that are currently in Anagram mode. If all Locations in the game either already have an anomaly or are in curse mode, then you will receive an error notice when trying to use the Anomaly summoning item stating that 'you cannot create an anomaly right now'. You can use this fact to make sure that when you use the Anomaly summoning item that Ship will be the only Location that the Anomaly can appear in. Simply play all the other Locations until they each have an Anomaly present (Anomalies are triggered by playing Locations, keep playing each Location over and over and eventually an Anomaly will appear in it). Leave Ship in any mode except for Anagram mode (as the Summoning item will not work on a Location in Anagram mode). Then when you use the Anomaly Summoning item, the Anomaly will appear in Ship and you can attempt to win the Quest item by playing it. You may have to Summon the Anomaly to Ship and play it a number of times before you win the quest item. If you do not have the right Anomaly Summoning item for the Anomaly required for the quest, then just keep playing Ship, as this will trigger anomalies naturally and you may win the right summoning item as you play.
 * 6) The items needed to complete the quests cannot be gifted between friends. However they may drop as random items when you are visiting your friends and charging their Darkwood Town Maps; from the Collectors Trophy when collecting its rewards; and from opening the Rare Chest, Antique Box, and Carved Box Chests. Whether this happens or not will be completely up to chance, but in order to increase your odds it is a good idea to visit your friends every day when doing the challenge, and open any Collection Items Chests you have won if you are stuck on a stubborn quest.
 * 7) When you are playing other Hidden Object Locations to collect Pieces of Eight needed to play Ship, make sure you play a wide variety of Locations and not just one easy to solve Location over and over. You will need to collect a large number of items in the game in order to gather enough Fixers to complete these quests. These items are spread around many Locations, so be sure to play a wide variety of Locations (see below):

Important: Plan ahead for the Fixers you will need to combine the 5 Collections the Challenge quests ask you to find and combine, as well as the Fixers you will need to combine the Great Captain Artifact. You will require a large number of these Fixers, in particular the 'Compass Rose' to complete the challenge. The Fixers you will need to combine both the Collections and the Artifacts will require you to banish Monsters, which will require a large number of Banishing items. Many of the Banishing items required will need to be Crafted which takes time and resources (including coins). You are not guaranteed to get a particular Fixer every time you Banish the right Monster, so you may have to Banish many more than the minimum amount of that Monster to gather the right amount of Fixers.

So play Locations that reward the items needed to Craft these Banishing Items as you play to collect Pieces of Eight, and Craft the items as you go, so you do not run the risk of getting stuck on a 'Combine a Collection' quest for days. In particular, you will need to Banish (at least) 50 Strolling Silhouettes to collect enough Compass Rose Fixers to combine all 5 collections. This requires (at least) 50 Torches, which can be won directly by playing Hidden Object Locations and Puzzles, so make sure these are in your playing rotation when you are collecting Pieces of Eight (Treasure Box, Observatory, Ballroom, Mayor's Office) along with any other Locations that will reward the items needed to Craft the other Fixers. You will also need (at least) 15 clubs to Banish Werewolves to collect Life Preservers, so also add Train Station, Clothing Store and Alley to your rotation until they are collected. A good approach would be to play every other Location in the game in rotation, as you will need to play them all to gain all the items needed, but a better approach would be to keep a total of how many Fixers you have and still need as you go and adjust which Locations are in the rotation accordingly. If an item can be found in more than one Location, then play the one that will cost the least amount of Energy or does not require other Special Items to play over the more difficult Locations.

It is important to note that all of the Fixers required for these Collections and the Artifact can be gifted as Free Gifts (they do not come out of your own Inventory) so be sure to gift them to your Friends who are also doing the challenge. You can put these Fixers on your Wishlist ahead of time so that your Friends can be helping you by giving them as gifts, even if you are not ready to combine the collection/artifact yet. Aim to have everything you need to combine each collection and the artifact before you get the quest to combine that collection/finish all 30 quests to avoid delays in the challenge.

Note: You are not guaranteed to get a particular Fixer every time you Banish the right Monster, so you may have to Banish many more than the minimum amount of that Monster to gather the right amount of Fixers.

Warning: Once you have completed all of the special challenge quests and combined the Great Captain Artifact, the Fixers (combining elements) needed for both above collections (Compass Rose; Life Preserver; and Pirate Bandana) and the Artifact itself (Bottle of Sand; Sailor's Shirt; Sea Salt; and Sea Urchin) will no longer be available to win in the game. The only way to gain more of any of these Fixers at this pointis via gifts from your Friends (they are all Free Gifts). They will diappear from the optional rewards that you can receive from banishing the above Monsters.

The Special Avatar - Getting Ship to Virtuoso Rank
Players can win two Unique 'Foggy Ship' Avatars (one male avatar, one female avatar) by playing the new Hidden Object Location, Ship, until they increase its Location Rank up to Virtuoso Level during the Foggy Ship update's time sensitive challenge (during the first 29 days after the update is released).

'Piece of Eight' special items are needed in addition to energy points for each play of the Ship Hidden Object Location. The number of Pieces of Eight needed for each play will increase by 5 each time you increase the Rank of the Location, from 5 Pieces of Eight per play when you first open the Location at Novice Rank to 25 Pieces of Eight per play when you are at the Detective Rank (the Rank before Virtuoso).

This means that players must collect Pieces of Eight before they can play Ship every time they wish to play the Hidden Object Location. This quest is about playing many different Hidden Object Locations many times, not just about playing games of Ship, in order to win enough Pieces of Eight to play Ship enough times to reach Virtuoso Rank.



Pieces of Eight can be won as rewards for winning Hidden Object games in Garden; Hunter's House; Train Station; Observatory; Marketplace; Clothing Store; Docks; Alley; Clock Tower; Ballroom; Dressing Room; Cafe; and Mayor's Office. At least one Piece of Eight is given for every game you win, but winning 2 or 3 Pieces of Eight at a time is also possible.

Pieces of Eight cannot be given as gifts between Friends or bought in the Store, however they are given as rewards for combining some of the new Collections in the game (namely the Collections needed to combine the Great Captain Artifact that you naturally complete as you complete the 30 special challenge quests.

The more you play the Ship Location, the higher the Location Rank you will achieve for the Location, and the more Pieces of Eight will be required for each play.



As a guide, in order to reach Virtuoso Rank on Ship, and win the new Avatar, you will need to play Ship approximately 150 times, which will require approximately 3,285 Pieces of Eight!

Hints/Tips for Winning the Special Avatar
Although it will take many plays of Ship to reach Virtuoso, there are things you can do to make the challenge easier:


 * 1) Try to play a variety of Hidden Object Locations as much when possible when playing, instead of just playing one or two over and over again. The more you play a single Location repeatedly, the worse the rewards for each win gets. Additionally, the bigger variety of Locations you play, the bigger variety of other game items you can potentially win. This will greatly increase the number of regular collections you will be able to combine, which will potentially give you more Tools, energy items, Crafting Items, Monster Banishing items, Talismans and Artifacts that will all help with completing the quest. You will need to obtain a large number of Fixers to complete the Challenge quests, so this is also a good reason to play a variety of Locations (see above).
 * 2) If you are low on energy, but close to leveling up (at which point your energy will restore), visit your Friends for the extra Experience points you can earn from daily bonuses and charging Locations on their Darkwood Town Maps
 * 3) Play Garden when you can. Garden can potentially rewards Truffles for Hidden Object game you win there. Truffles restore 30 energy points when used, and Garden can cost as little as 28 energy points (at Novice Rank, but up to over 50 energy points at higher Ranks). This means you can play for free or next to free if you have a good success rate of winning Truffles. Using Luck talismans and artifacts while playing Garden will increase your odds for winning Truffles. This also means that Garden is a great picture to play when collecting Pieces of Eight, as by winning Truffles and restoring the energy you are using to play, you are basically collecting Pieces of Eight for free in terms of energy costs. Note Garden requires Lantern Special Items to play, so you will need to play other Locations to win these in order to play Garden.
 * 4) Play Clothing Store; Garden and Dressing Room when you can as these Locations potentially give Tools as rewards for playing. However, all of these Locations require Special Items to play, so check to see if there are any Collections that will also reward the Tools you require, whose items can be won from playing regular energy Locations instead.
 * 5) Although Puzzles do not reward Pieces of Eight, and therefore will not directly help with the Avatar Challenge, they do reward items for very useful collections that can provide useful rewards for playing the game, such as Tools, Crafting items and Talismans. In particular, you need to play Puzzles if you want to collect the items needed for the Collections used to create the Valuable Pyramid Artifact (which increases the number of items you win for each play by 50% for 24 hours). Only remove Puzzles completely from your playing rotation if you do not need these items for the challenges.
 * 6) When choosing which Locations to play to earn Pieces of Eight, use the List of Collection Item Locations and Location Rewards pages here to see which Locations can potentially give you items for Collections you can combine for additional Energy, Tools, and Talismans.
 * 7) As you play through the 30 challenge quests to win the Pirate Chest, you will be able to combine 5 new collections added as part of the update. These quests will reward Pieces of Eight once combined.
 * 8) Do not rely on Luck Talismans to earn more Pieces of Eight. Luck Talismans and Artifacts will not increase the number of Pieces of Eight you will win when playing Hidden Object Locations. These items increase the overall number of different items you win for each play, they do not effect the weighting of the items that could be won (rare items will still be rare, and common items will still be common, this will not change, you will just have more chances to gain rare items per play). Importantly, you are always guaranteed to win at least one Piece of Eight. It will always be one of the items in the rewards window. So increasing the overall number of different items in the rewards window will not help. Whether you win 1 Piece of Eight or 3 Pieces of Eight for that play is weighted, but the Luck Talismans do not affect that weighting. So they will not increase your chances of getting 3 Pieces of Eight. They can only increase the overall number of items won, and do not effect the weighting of items themselves.
 * 9) But still use Luck Talismans when you can (just don't stress out about not having them). Although they will not increase the number of Pieces of Eight that you win as you play, they will increase the number of other items you win, such as Fixers, Crafting Items, Monster Banishing Items, and Collection Items. Everything you earn as you play trying to win Pieces of Eight will be useful in the long run as they will help you combine the Collections needed for the Challenge Quests (which reward Pieces of Eight) as well as other useful Collections in the game.
 * 10) Find a system that works for you when you are collecting Pieces of Eight. Some people like to work methodically through each Location in the game one time each and then play Ship with however many Pieces of Eight they have collected (even at Detective Level you should get one play). Others like to play until they have collected many hundreds of Pieces of Eight so that they can play Ship a large number of times in a row (to help get challenge quest items). Others still only play other Locations until they have just enough Pieces of Eight for one play of Ship. The second option might be the most efficient strategically speaking, as it allows the biggest run at the Location when you do play it. However the real difficulty in this challenge is keeping yourself motivated when playing other Locations many, many times over to collect Pieces of Eight. The first option is good in that stops the need to count how many Pieces of Eight you have in your Inventory at any one time, as you play the Ship Location when you reach it on your map and not at a certain Pieces of Eight goal. The third option works for people who need short term goals to keep motivated. In the end the best strategy for one player may not be the best strategy for other players, so find the one that suits your playing style. If it helps to count Pieces of Eight, then count them. If it helps to ignore them and work on other goals, then ignore them. The more you play the more you will collect, regardless of how you approach collecting them.
 * 11) Work on other goals in the game while collecting Pieces of Eight to keep you motivated. Completing regular quests, finding items for regular collections, finding items for Crafting, Trading, and Banishing Monsters all involve playing Hidden Object Locations. As you work towards these goals you will collect Pieces of Eight naturally and will be slowly working towards this goal in the process.

After the Challenge is Complete
When you complete the 30 Special Quests for the first part of the Challenge, and then combine the Great Captain Artifact to receive the rewards for the Challenge, or the Challenge Timer expires (whichever happens first) - the new Fixers added to the game for the Update (Compass Rose; Life Preserver; Pirate Bandana; Bottle of Sand; Sailor's Shirt; Sea Salt; and Sea Urchin) will no longer be available to win through game play (by Banishing their respective Monsters). At this point onwards they are only available to get as Free Gfits from Friends. It is likely they will be removed entirely from the game once a new update is released. If you win the other challenge (getting Ship to Virtuosso level) first, the Fixers won't be restricted. They are only restricted when you have finished using them (combining the 5 collections needed to create the Great Captain Artifact and the Artifact itself) or when the Challenge ends for everyone when the Timer expires.



Once both challenges are complete (both the 30 quests/Great Capatain Artifact and the Avatar challenge) or the challenge timer expires (whichever happens first) then Pieces of Eight are restricted so that they are no longer won in every single Hidden Object Location. From this point forward, Pieces of Eight are can only be won in Mayor's Office.



Pieces of Eight are still require to play ship, and as you increase the Rank of the Location the number of Pieces of Eight needed for each play continues to increase. Thismeans it becomes very difficult to contine to play Ship.

Changes to Treasure Box
Originally Treasure Box had two different win conditions that could potentially be necessary when playing the different modes: The win condition that the Puzzle was currently under was represented by a symbol in the top left hand corner of the 'Solve' Window for the Puzzle (on the opposite side of the symbol that indicates the mode of the Puzzle for that play).
 * 1) Step: win the game within a certain number of moves or,
 * 2) Time: win the game within a certain amount of time.

The Foggy Ship update has removed the Step win condition for the game, so now all games of Treasure Box must be completed within a certain amount of time, and players can always make as many moves as necessary within that time frame.

The amount of time given to complete the puzzle at all Puzzle Ranks has also been increased from the original amount given when the Time win condition was in effect, giving players more freedom to figure out and complete the more difficult puzzle configurations.

Changes to Mosaic
More time has been added to the Mosaic Puzzle at each location Rank for the puzzle, giving players more time to complete the more challenging puzzle configuration.

Changes to Ancient Cards
More tome has been added to the Ancient Cards Puzzle at each Location Rank for the puzzle, and the responsiveness of the cards when you tap on them has been slightly improved, giving players more timed to complete the more challenging puzzles when more matches are required at higher Ranks.

Win Streak Notification Before Loss
When you lose a Puzzle game (run out of time), a notification window appears asking if you would like to use a Flying Time tool to regain 45 seconds and try to complete the Puzzle. If you do not have any Flying Time tools, you can use this notification window to buy more with Rubies (one will automatically be used if you buy through this window) or you can reject the offer to use the tool and fail the Puzzle.

The Foggy Ship Update has expanded this system to include a second reminder that the Puzzle game will be lost. Now, if by losing the Puzzle you will break your current winning streak, you will be given a second notification window after you choose to reject the offer to use the tool. This second window tells you what your current win streak of Puzzles is that you are about to lose:



The notification mentions an achievement for long win streaks of Puzzles, however no new Achievements have been added to the Achievements window for gaining wins in a row of Puzzle games, and the win streak mentioned each time appears to be your current winning streak since your last loss as opposed to your life time winning streak.

This notification does give you a second chance to either use the tool or buy one, if you originally pressed Reject by accident.

You will not receive this second notification window if you lost the previous Puzzle game you played, as you will not have a win streak to break.

Redesign of Ballroom
The Ballroom picture has been given a face lift in the update. Players must still find many of the same items, but both the items and the Ballroom itself have been redrawn in more detail.



Redesign of Garden
The Garden picture has also been given a face lift in the update. Players must still find many of the same items, but both the items and the Garden itself have been redrawn in more detail.



Win Streak Notification Before Loss
When you lose a Hidden Object game (run out of time), a notification window appears asking if you would like to use a Flying Time tool to regain 45 seconds and try to complete the Hidden Object game. If you do not have any Flying Time tools, you can use this notification window to buy more with Rubies (one will automatically be used if you buy through this window) or you can reject the offer to use the tool and fail the Hidden Object game.

The Foggy Ship Update has expanded this system to include a second reminder that the Hidden Object game will be lost. Now, if by losing the Hidden Object game you will break your current winning streak, you will be given a second notification window after you choose to reject the offer to use the tool. This second window tells you what your current win streak of Hidden Object games is that you are about to lose.

The notification mentions an achievement for long win streaks 'visiting Locations' (winning Hidden Object games), however no new Achievements have been added to the Achievements window for gaining wins in a row of Hidden Object games, and the win streak mentioned each time appears to be your current winning streak since your last loss as opposed to your life time winning streak.

This notification does give you a second chance to either use the tool or buy one, if you originally pressed Reject by accident.

You will not receive this second notification window if you lost the previous Hidden Object game you played, as you will not have a win streak to break.

Other Changes
A number of other small changes have been made to other Hidden Object Locations, such as slight differences in names and appearance of items being searched for.

Not all Collection Items Can be Gifted Between Friends Anymore
Prior to the Foggy Ship Update, all Collection items in the game could be gifted between Friends. Every item had a 'green plus' sign next to them, which could be used to add that item to your Wish List to request it as a gift from your Friends. All Collection items in the game would also appear in the 'Collection' tab of the Gifting Window, which could be used to send items to your Friends even if they are not on that Friend's Wish List.

The Foggy Ship Update has introduced non-giftable Collection Items to the game. This means that not all Collection items have Green Plus signs now. Some Collection items cannot be added to your Wish List as they do not have a green plus sign next to them in the Collection's Window. These items cannot be gifted to other players under any circumstances - they will not appear in the 'Collection' tab of the gifting window, so you cannot use that tab to bypass not being able to gift the item from a Friend's Wish List.

This change has not just effected new Collections added to the game in the Update, but has been retroactively applied to 13 Collections that previously could be gifted between Friends, some of which are used to create Artifacts in the game.



The 12 Collections that previously could have their items gifted between Friend's are but now are non-giftable Collections after the update are: Additionally, 19 of the 23 Collections added by the Update are also cannot be gifted between Friends: This means that prior to the update 64/64 or 100% of Collections were made up of items that could be gifted between Friends and now after the update 56/87 or 63% of Collections are now made up of items that can be gifted between Friends.
 * Ben's Things (Reward: Flask of Fireflies x2)
 * Venetian Masks (Reward: Coffee a la Vienne x1; forms part of Forged Mask Artifact)
 * Cunning Disguise (Reward: Belgian Waffles x1; forms part of Forged Mask Artifact)
 * Lady's Things (Reward: Rock Crusher x3)
 * Electric Circuit (Reward: Metronome x5)
 * Golden Armor (Reward: Lightning in a Bottle x5)
 * Amazing Insects (Reward: Magic Lantern x4; forms part of Midas Touch Artifact)
 * Hunting Guns (Reward: Magic Box x1)
 * Toy Box (Reward: Tool Kit x1)
 * Maze Experiment (Reward: Belgian Waffles x1)
 * Weather Forecast (Reward: Lightning in a Bottle x5)
 * Fine Fragrance (Reward: Truffles x1)
 * Shadow Play (Reward: Truffles x1)
 * Chocolate Fondue (Reward: Coffee a la Vienne x1)
 * Magician's Tools (Reward: Belgian Waffles x1)
 * Indian Costume (Reward: Carved Box x1)
 * Rescue Mission (Reward: Ancient Scroll x1)
 * Rare Exhibits (Reward: Eagle Eye x1)
 * Engraved Spell (Reward: Piggy Bank x1)
 * Special Equipment (Reward: Thunder Amulet x1)
 * Flower Garden (Reward: Gold Thread x75)
 * Memorable Figurines (Reward: Lanterns x75)
 * Steam Robot (Reward: Belgian Waffles x2)
 * Memories of Harry (Reward: Lightning in a Bottle x5)
 * Seeking Annabelle (Reward: Flying Time x5)
 * Medallion of Power (Reward: Master's Box x1)
 * Sign's of a Pirate (Reward: Piece of Eight x10; forms part of Great Captain Artifact)
 * Ship's Treasure (Reward: Piece of Eight x15; forms part of Great Captain Artifact)
 * Ben's Collection (Reward: Piece of Eight x20; forms part of Great Captain Artifact)
 * Real Sailor (Reward: Piece of Eight x25; forms part of Great Captain Artifact)
 * Ghost Hunting (Reward: Piece of Eight x30; forms part of Great Captain Artifact)

Changes to the Free Gift System
The Free Gift System in the game has been expanding to include a number of the new Fixers added to the game in the update. This gives players much more choice in what they can send their Friends as a gift each day. Players are still restricted to only sending one free gift to each friend each day (up to a maximum of 50 friends), but now they have more choice in what they can gift.

The game level required to unlock the Gold Thread special item for Clothing Store as a free gift has been reduced from level 30 to level 20, so players can gift this special item earlier in the game rather than at the same time as they can gift the Lantern special items for Garden as before the update (Lanterns continue to be unlocked at level 30).

Changes to the Monthly Talisman - The Fortune Pearl Replaced
The Talisman that players earn slowly over a 25 day period of opening the game has also been revamped. The Fortune Pearl Talisman has been replaced by the 'Guardian of Time' Talisman.

Although the Talisman looks different and has a different name, it is earned in the exact same way as the Fortune Pearl Talisman was, and has the exact same function when activated. The Talisman still lasts for 10 days when it is activated and still increases the coins earned and chances of winning objects for every successful Hidden Object and Puzzle game by 12% while it is activated.

Any Fortune Pearl Talismans in a player's Inventory from before the Update is automatically turned into a Guardian of Time Talisman once the Foggy Ship Update is installed, and they can be immediately used as normal.

Changes to Banishing Monsters
As new Fixers have been added to the game, they have been integrated into other systems in the game to allow players to earn them.

Some Level 1 and Level 2 Monsters now have an extra Fixer in their list of potential rewards if they Banished in the game. To accommodate these extra awards, you are also now no longer guaranteed every items in the list of rewards for Banishing that Monster every time you Banish it.

For example, prior to the Update, the rewards for Banishing the Living Shadow Monster were a Hairpin and a Black Stone (as well as some experience points and coins). Now a new Fixer, the Compass Rose, has been added to the list of potential rewards when Banishing the Living Shadow Monster, but you will not win all three Fixers every time you banish a Living Shadow. You may still only receive the Hairpin and the Black Stone (as well as coins and experience points), or you may receive the Compass Rose, Hairpin and Black Stone (as well as coins and experience points).

Many of the Level 3 Monsters have had their rewards slightly altered so that instead of just rewarding a chest full of prizes, they now also reward one of the new Fixers in the game.

Changes to the Darkwood Town Map
The bottom left corner of the Darkwood Town Map has been flooded to make room for the Ship Location.

New Shorter Friend Codes and Support Codes
Each player is assigned an unique 10-character user ID number (UID) when they start a new game of Seeker's Notes: Mysteries of Darkwood. This number identifies their player profile from others (so two players can have the same user name, but since they have different unique UIDs, the game will never confuse their profiles).

Prior to the Foggy Ship Update, player's UIDs were used in a number of systems within the game: The Foggy Ship update has replaced the player's UID in these two systems with a new 5-character unique code.
 * 1) It was listed as their Support ID under the settings of their game (accessed by wheel icon next to energy meter), and was automatically added to emails sent to the games support team through the link in these settings to help the support team identify the exact game with the problem.
 * 2) It was also used as the player's Friend Code, which they can give to other players so that the other player can invite them to be game Friends.

Player's UID numbers have not changed, everyone still have the original 10-character code they were assigned as their Unique ID number. But the UIDs no longer appear within the game, this new 5-character code appears in their place and can be used to add new Friends and to identify your game when contacting support.

This 5-character code is easier to share than the longer 10-character UID number, making adding Friends simpler, and it is safer to use than the previous system of publicly posting your UID on online forums when trying to find new Friends.

Special Items Now included in Daily Visiting Bonuses
It is now possible to get a special item as one of the rewards for a Daily Visiting Bonus when Visiting Friends. You may receive a Daily Bonus when you first visit a Friend each day. The number of Friends that you can get Daily Bonuses from depends on your current Reputation Level (the number of Daily Bonuses you can receive each day is equal to your current Reputation Level).

For each Friend you receive a Daiy Bonus for, you will receive 10 experience points and 50 coins. With the Foggy Ship Update, you can potentially win a 1-2 single Special Items in addition to these experience points and coins e.g you may win a Gold Thread; a Lantern; or a Theater Ticket or occassionally one each of two these items in addition to guaranteed rewards. Pieces of Eight are not included in the pool of Special items since they are required for the update's timed challenges. You can get 2 different Special Items, but will only get one of each one you win. You will not get a Special Item for each Daily Bonus, it is down to chance whether you get zero/one/two and which ones you get.

New Avatars
A couple of new Avatars have also been added to the list of standard Avatars. They can be found at the start of the list.

Players Stats Frozen in the Top 100 list or for Friends
(Confirmed) Many players find that their game stats do not update in the Top 100 List or in their entry on their Friends' 'Friends Lists'. This problem, with player information not updating on the game's servers, is still not resolved.

The corruption can be seen in the Friends_List.xml file of a player's game files, where all the stats for each of their Friends is stored. The entries for these frozen players is not updating on their Friend's 'Friend List' file.

Players with the problem can have the new Foggy Ship Update installed and can gift the new Fixers introduced by the update to their Friends (confirming that this version 1.1 is installed on their games as these items do not exist in the previous 1.0.6 version of the game). The entry in the Friends_List.xml file as viewed on their Friends devices will show the last information received from the game servers, and will state that the player still has the 1.0.6 version of the game installed not the 1.1 version of the game. All other stats for that player will also be out of date. The file is no longer updating that player's information, which is why their Friends cannot see their recent progress in the game.

When their Friends visit their Darkwood Town Maps, they will not see their uptodate information and will see the new Location 'Ship' as locked. Their game level and other stats will also be out of date in their Friend's Friend Lists and in the Top 100 list. Their Friends may not know that they have the new update and can receive the new game items as gifts.

Wishlists Not Updating
(Confirmed) Players Wish Lists are still not updating correctly on the games servers, so that their Friends cannot see what they are currently asking for but instead see a much older version of the list of requests.

Problems with the Foggy Ship Update
The main problem with Foggy Ship Update is that a new content Update was released instead of one that fixed some of the major problems players are experiencing in the game. Releasing new Locations and introducing a set of timed challenges is not the best use of resources, when there are game crippling problems that are left unaddressed. Players experiencing these problems would probably be happy playing the original game content and waiting a little longer for new content to be released if it meant that these problems were being fixed.

Related

 * SN Home
 * Updates
 * Timed Challenges
 * Ship
 * Clock Tower
 * Quests
 * Artifacts
 * Special Items
 * Location Ranks
 * Location Ranks and Potential Costs to Play/Rewards for Winning
 * Collections
 * Puzzles
 * Ballroom
 * Garden
 * Monsters
 * Fixers
 * Friends
 * Gifting Friends