A new Mystery Case Files game has come out in time to entertain folks who want to avoid the craziness that’s Black Friday or recover after. In Mystery Case Files: The 13th Skull, Sara Lawson’s husband mysteriously (if it weren’t, we’d have no game, right?) disappears shortly after they moved into a creepy (any other kind?) mansion in Louisiana. Sara’s daughter, Magnolia, believes that a vengeful pirate seeking to protect his missing fortune has kidnapped her father. The locals want nothing to do with the pirate’s curse, so the family turns to you to solve the case.

Download and try Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull Collector’s Edition.

Want more Mystery Case Files? Oh boy, do we have a lot! Other than Ravenhearst, you do not need to play them in order from oldest to newest. Actually, I don’t recall much connection between the Ravenhearst games.

• Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove
• Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst
• Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate
• Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

With the weather bad in many places (we have snow in Texas) — it’s a great time to cuddle up with a fun adventure and hidden object game. If you enjoyed Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst and PC Game Review: Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove, download Nightfall Mysteries – Curse of the Opera and don’t bother reading the rest of this.

I haven’t checked out Nightfall Mysteries – Curse of the Opera because I’ve had to lay off games and using the computer in the evenings due to eye problems. But I’m hearing it’s the kind of game that fans of point-and-click adventures will want to play while waiting for the sequel of their favorite to be released.

Take on the role of a lowly stagehand in an opera company tasked with solving a deadly mystery! The Opera troupe is invited by the reclusive Count Vladd Vansig III to his small hamlet to perform a special Opera for him. Strangely, there are no villagers to speak of except for the Count and his caretaker. Over the course of the night, people go missing and are killed! Use your Hidden Object skills to find out the identity of the killer and escape the village alive in Nightfall Mysteries – Curse of the Opera!

Anyone looking to finish the year off with a bang and lots of fun should head straight for Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove. This point-and-click game tells the story of four friends who are  graduate students filming their adventures only to run into trouble. The friends have disappeared and you find their movies dispersed throughout the captivating game.

In England, you run into a snowstorm where you come across an abandoned car with a video camera just outside of Dire Grove. Naturally, you can’t help but become curious and investigate the four friends’ claim that the legend of Dire Grove is real. While you won’t see a big leap between this one and Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, it takes on a whole new story that comes together nicely with a satisfying ending. I wasn’t too happy with the ending Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst. Return to Ravenhearst is good, but it’s not a stand-alone story like Dire Grove.

Some scenes require you to find items that appear in the list — like in hidden object games, but then you’ll be rewarded with something you need for your travels. One of the strengths of the series is that you can go any place you wish. The only time “order” matters is when you need to find something before you can move forward. You’ll see sparkles appear in scenes, which indicate you need to explore the area.

The setting goes far and wide, although it won’t look that way in the beginning. Then you discover openings to bigger areas as you explore and check everything possible. For the longest time, I made no progress because I had overlooked a barely noticeable door in one of the rooms. You may get stuck at times when you have everything and yet, can’t progress. Do not give up. Keep looking around and touching everything or ask for a hint. Sometimes you just miss a step. Hints are almost always available, but you’ll need to give the hint meter a few moments to refill.

I’m not a fan of horror films, so I can promise you that those who feel the same won’t have a problem with this one. The films only make up a part of the action and I’m grateful they came with closed-captions. When I first heard about the game and its use of video, I freaked because my experience has been that most things don’t come subtitled.

A couple of short phrases that didn’t have captions, but you can find out what was said with a little research. These little quotes aren’t detrimental to the story. Do pay attention to the videos because they give you clues that can help as does your casebook, which captures your notes of what you’ve seen. The film also has some jerky action, not too agreeable for this gal who gets dizzy easily.

Considering the Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove takes place in England, the actors also have a British accent adding to its authenticity. The whole production reels you in making you feel a part of the game. A Collector’s Edition is available, which offers bonus game play, challenge and achievement system, tracking down 50+ objects that change shape and a strategy guide.

Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove is a superb game that will entertain you for a full day, a wonderful way to spend a winter day huddled around the computer and staying warm even though the most of the scenes are frozen.

Talk about cheering up a gal who couldn’t do much while recovering from hand surgery! I had no idea another Mystery Case Files (MCF) game was coming out. It doesn’t feel so long ago since we had the pleasure of seeing Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate. Then I discover it’s a follow up to Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst. I had mixed feelings because the original’s ending disappointed me. However, the game had a strong story and intriguing puzzles.

Wow! MCF: Return to Ravenhearst surpassed all expectations and blew away all previous Mystery Case File games. I believe that this one truly takes the Mystery Case Files franchise and hidden object to a full-fledged adventure where hidden objects take a back seat rather than rule the game.

Most hidden object games give you two or three scenes you can roam, one at a time, from a map. This one reminds me of the first adventure games from Sierra that I played on my Apple ][+ as a kid. Of course, the overall production transcends those old adventures.

Navigate around MCF: Return to Ravenhearst by clicking the sides of the screen when you see an arrow pointing indicating you can go in that direction. As you move your mouse around the screen, the cursor turns into a magnifying glass or a white sparkle showing there’s more to that item.

The casebook plays a big role as who can remember everything s/he reads (aside from those with photographic memory). You could write it down, but you may not remember or realize the significance of a note that appears in the casebook.

Other games with a similar casebook just rehash the story. This one provides useful details. Review the casebook as it contains clues and information that will come to play later.

Good news — if you haven’t played any of the Mystery Case Files, it won’t affect playing this one. There’s little reference to the previous games.

The game picks up from the previous after the release of Emma Ravenhearst’s soul. But Charles Dalimar — the villain of both stories — continues to torture other souls. He was also responsible for the strange goings-on at the carnival in MCF: Madame Fate. We must help free the tortured souls so they may rest in peace.

We’re seeing an influx of adventure games (yeah!), but some come too easy. Not MCF: Return to Ravenhearst. I got stuck in a few places and had to walk all over the house a few times before I figured them out. Gamers who feel games are too easy shouldn’t find that a problem here. The nice thing about getting stuck is that you don’t have to figure it out right then to move forward.

Big Fish Games, publisher of the series, has also released a separate sound track. Why? The music was annoying that I turned off the sound early on.

Some objects are nearly impossible to find. One was hidden behind a toy in a glass case. Even with the hint, I couldn’t see it. There’s no limit on the hints, but you do have to wait for the meter to refill after use.

Another negative was the game’s snarky comments when you make a useless move. I’d think, “Gee, thanks for the insult.”

Nonetheless, these little peeves hardly interfere with the experience of playing the almost perfect game.

I thought the hype surrounding MCF: Madame Fate was overdone, but not for MCF: Return to Ravenhearst. It never let me down. The game also relies on some video and they fit beautifully with the story and scenes. I generally don’t like videos because they lack captions, but that’s not an issue here as they come with subtitles. Yeah!

What will MCF bring next? When? I hope it continues to build upon the superb MCF: Return to Ravenhearst.

Emma’s soul is free. But her ghost has delivered a dire warning: evil still lurks in Ravenhearst Manor. Big Fish Games Studios takes you deep inside the cursed estate in Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, the thrilling sequel.

Experience Ravenhearst’s spectral halls as never before with new immersive adventure-style gameplay and an epic original soundtrack. Feel the floorboards creak as you move from room to room solving puzzles and seeking out clues in over 150 detailed scenes.

Save 50% on the game using coupon code RAVEN50. This promotion is valid from 11/27-12/27 ONLY. Go try Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst first to see if you like it.

The third Hidden Expedition game of the hidden object game series takes on many new features to take the series to new heights. Hidden Expedition: Amazon promises fans a bigger adventure with more to do and it delivers.

In the latest expedition, the only thing you receive is an old beat up map with a reference to the legendary Beetle Temple to aid your search to find a missing professor. As you delve deep into the Amazonian jungles, you discover pieces of the professor’s journal to learn more.

The heart of the game comes in finding many hidden objects and crossing them off your list. Of course, these Amazon-themed scenes surround the hidden objects in hopes to make them harder to find while staying true to the theme.

Two new twists join this edition while you hunt for objects — some move into your inventory for later use. You also can click any item on your list of hidden objects to see a silhouette of the item. Does this make the game too easy? Or does it help a lot considering some objects blend in too well with the scene? Hints are still available where a circle appears around the object’s location. Seeing silhouettes doesn’t count as a hint.

But I say the game is what we make of it. If you want it to be hard, don’t look at the silhouettes period. Who says you have to use hints? We can control how easy or hard we make a game.

Seek out five beetles per scene to receive one shiny new hint added to your hint pack. If you find only four beetles when you finish the scene, no hint for you even if you find one in the next scene. The beetle count starts over with each new scene.

Puzzles. That’s the best new feature in Hidden Expedition: Amazon. Who cares if Mystery Case Files uses this? I love these puzzles and take ‘em where I can get ‘em. No, no… these aren’t jigsaw puzzles, but bona fide brain puzzles where you must figure out what to do. I figure out most of them and accidentally passed on one of them not realizing I clicked “Solve” when I thought it was “Hint.” So if you get stuck, you can kind of skip it.

You also hit “find 20 of something” scenes. Another copy from Mystery Case Files. While some elements look familiar, Hidden Expedition: Amazon offers original puzzles plus one extraordinary feature: a symphony. According to the game’s press release, this game contains the first ever, live orchestra music score for a downloadable casual game. The music rings from the Berlin Film Orchestra instruments.

The game’s press releases heavily promoted this feature. Well, beware some of us are not easily impressed with such audio. The music sounds lovely, but I couldn’t tell you that it exceeds some other casual game’s high quality audio as they won’t sound sharper or better to me. To me, I look for the rhythm and tone — whether they annoy or complement the game play. Here, the audio lovingly pairs up with the game and its top notch scenes.

Hidden Expedition: Amazon deserves a spot on your computer even if you play a select few hidden object games.

Ravenhearst Manor is a cliché old abandoned manor filled with secrets piquing the curiosity of many including me. The wondering doesn’t last long as Emma Ravenhearst’s diary shows up providing clues that could finally crack the manor’s secrets and mysterious tale.

Step into the shoes of Master Detective to search for clues in 32 rooms to find the diary’s missing pages, which hold the key to the sinister manor’s story. The rooms contain puzzles resembling I Spy where you locate the missing items to bring you closer to finding another diary entry. Beware! The missing items surprised me a few times, as they weren’t always what I expected. These surprises kept the hidden puzzles from getting boring as they take up about 75% of the game’s puzzles.

These puzzles grabbed my seven-year-old’s attention. He wanted to sit with me and find all the items. Not only did I get to enjoy a game with him, but also he’d ask what a “pick,” “bamboo steamer” or other item was. He was practicing reading and learning new words. It was a nice change of pace to have him learning without the word “homework” entering the picture.

Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst even captivated my three-year-old. He may not have helped find missing objects, but he loved watching me play. For this mom, the game took the guilty out of this “guilty pleasure” since the kids took an interest. As soon as I started playing Ravenhearst, I didn’t stop unless I had to. I played the game in two days, staying up past my bedtime to finish it — and I’m strict about getting my sleep.

After finding a specific number of hidden items for the level, I ran into a jigsaw puzzle (a simple one, thankfully) to access another page of the diary. In between hidden objects puzzles, you enter a crime scene with a puzzle (known as the “door puzzle”) that stands in the way of your unlocking the door. When I encountered my first door puzzle, I was — apologies for the unavoidable pun — puzzled.

I was still perplexed at the different style puzzle from what I had been playing to this point. It finally clicked — I needed to figure out the buttons, objects and tasks to complete to get the key to open the door. From then on, I completed most of them. I gave up on several after too much time passed. I wish I had known about the BigFishGames forums for this game, which includes a Door Puzzle sub-category. I want to go back and figure out the ones I missed, but unfortunately, it means playing the game all over again.

Each level of Ravenhearst contains five hints. A few tips: When getting a hint, don’t click the screen again until you finish reading the hint. I wasted a few at the start of the game before I caught on. Also, avoid wasting a hint until you’ve answered and completed the previous one. Otherwise, an unsolved hint will appear again until you solve it.

Desperate times call for calling the professional puzzle solvers’ hotline. Taking advantage of this takes you past the puzzle without seeing its resolution. When I took this step the first time, the game confused me. It took me to another hidden puzzle, which I later realized was the first hidden puzzle you get after completing a door puzzle. Calling the hotline was like a non-event. It’s a good and bad thing that the game skips over the door puzzle solution. Good — you might try it later, bad — you might not have time to play the game to get back to that point.

Using the hotline takes away all the remaining hints for the level and five minutes on the clock. Oh yes, there’s a clock counting down as you work your way around the manor and through the mystery, but I opted for the easy way. The game offers two modes of play — Detective Mode, which has normal timed play, and Relaxed Mode, which offers extended time.

This beautiful graphics-based mystery will hook puzzle lovers of all ages. The sounds enhance the game offering a more shadowy feel to go along with the images and story. The game took me eight hours and I only know that because it reports the time spent at the end.

The free trial lets you play for one hour by real-world time, not the game’s time. Prepare yourself as the hour goes fast as it did for me, but don’t worry — if you run out of time and buy the game — you pick up where you left off.

Download and try Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst.

System Requirements
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
Pentium III 700 MHz
RAM: at least 128Mb

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans