From Discis and ELOI
Solve the puzzles left by an ancient civilization. Your only help on this journey are the comments made by the mysterious Oracle. These are best described as cryptic clues. There are a total of 24 puzzles, split into 6 groups of 4.
The graphics of this game are dark, moody and very well done. The voice of the oracle is deep and not quite human sounding (if they credit who did the base voice, I can't find it in the docs.) The music adds to the mood, though I do turn it off after awhile.
Most of the puzzles are brain teasers. They require thought, planning and lots of patience. Most of them take very little time to work out what you'll need to do, but they do take a lot of work to solve.
The game has a number of options. The most important is that you may chose the level of difficulty of the puzzles. Hard is the starting point of the game, but any time you are not directly facing a puzzle, you may change that setting. The difference can be big. I can solve the Horses of Asvah in easy, but I have yet to manage to solve that puzzle in hard mode. Puzzles in easy mode tend to be smaller (if possible); and if the hard version has rotating pieces, the easy version will not.
When facing a puzzle, click the oracle's face for a clue. Click the bar on either side of the oracle to reset the puzzle.
If you are having real trouble with solving some of the puzzles, it has been said that Balmoralsoftware has a very thorough walkthrough. The page for Jewels of the Oracle include general hints and specific puzzle solutions.
None, for this type of game, it is well designed and thought-out.
I like this game a lot. It has atmosphere, the mysterious oracle, and some really good puzzles. It has no plot, no story-line, and no pressure. It's not pretending to be something that it is not, like some 'adventure' game that are merely a set of brainteasers with a bit of added video.
The pity of this game is that it never had good distribution. There should have been a reasonable market for such a lovely set of thinking puzzles. But the game wasn't really given a chance.
There is a new game by the designer of Jewels called Jewels II The Ultimate Challenge. There is a leaflet in the book offering to sell you this game for $20.