Got to agree with you on the Treasures of Montezuma games, though I prefer Treasures of Montezuma 1 & 2 to the third one. I felt that the shorter time you got to complete levels in TOM 3 spoiled the feel of the game somewhat, otherwize it was still a fantastic match three game.

There are other Match threes that IMO are as good as Treasures of Montezuma 1,2 & 3. They are more like a meld of two genres; Match three and RPG. Each of the ones I've listed below have elem,ents of Role playing in them. Of these the Puzzle quest games are probably the best examples, but there are others just as good. Just click on the name of the game to see details, images and in some cases video of the game.

1) ... Puzzle Quest
2) ... Puzzle Hero

3) ... Puzzle Quest 2

4) ... Puzzle Quest Galaztrix

5) ... Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

6) ... Puzzle Kingdoms

7) ... Puzzle Pirates

8) ... Puzzle Chronicles

* You'll find free trials of most of these games on the net.

There are a few more of this type of match three game, but the names of those escape me at the moment. We got one via the giveaway project about three years ago. I think it was the first of this type of match three game I'd ever seen at the time. I've still got a copy of it on my oldest computer. i'll have to find it and add it to the list above.

It's worth checking out Big Fishes large library of almost 370 Match Three games HERE. Most can be played as demos. It'll take you almost 4 months 2 weeks to play all of the demos if you played an average of 3 hours a day.

Also check out MyPlayCity's (MPC) extensive library of 128 free Match three games HERE. Do remember that you need to keep an eye out for checkboxes while installing MPC games. Just uncheck the boxes that ask for home page changes, toolbars and other changes. you will always get your browser opening to MPC's home page when you shut any MPC game down, but it's totally innocuous.

This is amazing but now, 7 months later, I have finally finished Treasures of Montezuma 3 in expert mode, LOL. I was able to do it without completing any of the mini games in the process. I think what really helped was getting a new Dell laptop at work. This game runs very smooth on an i7 processor, even on a laptop. Now I've got to come up with something else to play at lunchtime. The Treasures of Montezuma match 3 games are by far the best of this style of game. Any recommendations? I have lots of other match 3 games but none of them really come close to TOM.

That makes sense about the extra stars. That's why I have gone back and tried to get the stars for hitting the maximum. But as you have stated this is still not enough. I had basically skipped most of the mini games because I didn't like them. I might just start the game over in expert mode and use the YouTube videos to get the extra stars. And for WR. You are correct that the casual mode is not much of a challenge. It's a much different story for the expert mode.

Just an update: I am now on the last treasure chest. I have made a million several times and over 2 million twice. From what I am seeing...you NEED those stars from the mini games or you can't win or you need to make extra stars in the games..which I never did. I would just get the one star for finishing the chest, the extra star for the Maximum plus the one for the mini games. I have actually gotten the game to run for 2 mins..because the time bonuses.

For the record ..this is a very hard game. If I replay it..and that is a BIG IF, I will use the cheats on YouTube to figure out the mini games. I did give up on 3 of them.

I've only just got around to playing Treasures of montezuma 3 despite buying it When it was released last year. I'm not as impressed with it partly becasue I don't like that 1 minute limit you get when you first start to play. It just feels like you're being pushed through the levels. I found 1 & 2 much more challenging. That said i still love the game.

Sorry I can't help you on the problem. Have you checked You Tube for possible tips and tricks? :)

Another funny thing. At work I am playing on a 4 year old laptop and this game really puts a strain on this machine. After playing for 10 or 15 minutes the fan is running full speed and after about 35 or 40 minutes the graphics start to lag and I have to shut the game down.

As far as the laptop's age goes, most of the casual games my wife plays stress her PC the same way, almost to the max, regardless how powerful it is (or isn't) -- the last time we upgraded (a couple years back) it doubled the horsepower, but the CPU load while playing her games stayed almost exactly the same. I have to pay the same level of attention to cooling her PC as I do on this one where I often render/encode video.

One problem with laptops is squeezing all that stuff inside a small as possible case means there's not a lot of room for heatsinks or airflow. A smaller or narrower path for that airflow also means dust bunnies can tend to get more concentrated in critical areas. It might help [I don't see how it could hurt] to use one of those cans of air to try & blow out or clean out some of that accumulated dust, shooting the stream of air into whatever vents or grills are available. A free app, HWMonitor [ http://www.neowin.net/news/hwmonitor-119 ] can tell you if things are getting too hot, but IMHO blowing out the dust bunnies & at the same time the keyboard is just regular maintenance or maybe housekeeping, like washing your car or cleaning out the inside as needed. Note however that some people object to anything being put into the air they breath, & I could see blowing out a laptop in a crowded office maybe causing a bit of a stir -- you might want to wear something like a dust mask yourself just in case.

At the risk of going a bit off topic, cleaning out the dust bunnies is something desktop PC owners/users should do as well. Rather than spend a continual fortune on canned air I bought a very cheap, very small air compressor, which has more than paid for itself in the few years we've had it. On the 2 PCs that sit on the floor we've found it helped immensely to cover the air intakes with pieces we've cut from home air filter/purifier pre-filters -- the pre-filters are usually very cheap, & washable, being either foam or a black fibrous material designed to let a lot of air pass through very easily. FWIW I've found the washable part critical -- simply vacuuming the filters off doesn't do it.

Thanks delenn13. At least I know someone is feeling my pain :) The nice thing about the previous 2 versions of the game was the fact that it was easier to get additional time. You can of course do this with 3 but if you focus too much attention on the yellow dudes or the additional time power-ups you end up with additional time but a low score. I like a challenge but this is beyond frustrating. I mainly play this game at work during my lunch hour and I have been trying literally for weeks to get past this current level. And as far as the mini puzzles, I don't even try. Another funny thing. At work I am playing on a 4 year old laptop and this game really puts a strain on this machine. After playing for 10 or 15 minutes the fan is running full speed and after about 35 or 40 minutes the graphics start to lag and I have to shut the game down.

I have finished all the cradle games, the age of Japan's, I think I lack 2 of the Atlantis' games and both of the Montezuma's. I have over 2.5 million on Bejeweled 3. My fav for a quick game is Sky Bubbles. But Montezuma 3 is driving me crazy as well.

The only redeeming parts of the game are the intro(which is really cool) and the fact you can get medals for being inpatient, persistent, a tortoise, and having bad luck. Then there is mission impossible..LOL. I seem to be doing the same as you..but worse..one game I think I got 13,000. And those mini puzzles..the worst. I don't like to do this but I have searched for walkthroughs and hints etc.. I have found videos for the puzzles on YouTube but nothing else.

Right now I am @ Treasury No.4.... 1 out of 8. It seems you just have to plug through it.

Sorry to be no help. But I thought I would chime in. Misery loves company ....

I'm trying to play through Treasures of Montezuma in expert mode and I'm stuck. I am attempting to get the extra star in the 3rd treasury by getting a score of 800k and something. I have already gone back to previous treasuries and collected all the extra stars. For the life of me I cannot get to 800k. I have tried trading the stars for different bonuses but nothing seems to work. This game can be really strange. Sometimes I think I am really racking up the points but my score won't even be up to 50k. Other times it seems nothing is happening and I will end up with 300 to 400k. Any ideas?