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Mystery Case Files: Huntsville (PC)
by bettyboop2002
Mystery Case Files - Huntsville
This is one of many hidden object games available for PC. I bought this in a game shop new for £3.99. The game is by big fish games and is also available to download from their website or to play a free trial to see if you like it.
This game doesn't come with any kind of manual, only a disc ... in the box so you don't get anything extra by buying the disc rather than downloading the game. One good point is that installation is very quick and easy and you do not need to have the disc in when playing so I can give the disc to family members for them to play once I have installed it.
OPTIONS
You can play the game in full screen or in a window, it is easier to see on full screen as some of the hidden objects are quite small.
You can also adjust the volume of sound effects and the music.
You have the ability to change the user so that more than one person can save and load their game.
THE STORY AND AIM OF THE GAME
The game is set in a small town called Huntsville where crimes keep occurring. It is your job as an investigator to visit different location on the map to find clues to help you find the culprits. There are 14 cases to solve and a final 'Big Boss' case. The amount of scenes to complete will increase as you solve each case.
To solve a case you will need to find objects hidden in the locations. You do not have to find every single item but nearly all of them. When you have found the required number of items you will be given a picture made up of tiles which you have to fill in to display a picture of the culprit and solve the case.
You start with 15 minutes on your timer, you will be given extra time at the end of each case you solve.
If you guess wrong too many times the timer will decrease.
In the first case you have two locations to search, with 8 objects in each making a total of 16 items to find. You must find 15 to solve the case.
You can go back to the map and switch between locations at any point so if you are stuck it is sometimes better to go to another scene first. By case 10 you have 47 items to find in 6 scenes.
HINTS
You have 3 clues to use in each case, this is fine for the earlier levels but in later levels where you have a few locations to search and lots more items to find it can be very difficult to find them in time with only 3 hints. You can use the hints at any time, but use them sparingly as it is not 3 for each location, it is 3 for the whole level. To use a hint you just click on one of the question marks in the to right of the screen.
LOCATIONS
There is a good selection of locations to explore including the Bookstore, Hunt & Peck Attorney at Law, Ty's Clock Shoppe, Rudy's Barbershop, Huntsville Fire Station, Pete's Pawnshop, Ivan's Café, Science Museum, Alice's Diner, Captain's Inn and Mausoleum.
ITEMS
Even though it may state that there are 8 items to find in a scene, one of the items listed may contain multiple items for example 3 cats, 2 chess pieces or 2 pairs of glasses. This means that there can actually be many more than 8 items in the scene.
Also you may get for example 2 bats, one could be a baseball bat and another could be the animal. Another example is 3 horns, this could be a French horn, an animal horn and a bike horn so things aren't as obvious as you may think.
Items could also be blended into the décor, pictures of the listed items are often found camouflaged into the wallpaper.
Some of the objects are tiny and well blended in so difficult to find.
SCORE
As you complete levels you will gain a different investigator rank including Snoop, Investigator and Private Eye.
OVERALL
I find the timer good with this game, in most similar games I find they give you far too much time which doesn't make it very challenging. This keeps the game interesting.
The main thing I dislike about the game is that you can't click items very fast, if you find a few items at a time you have to wait until one has been crossed off the list before clicking on the next one.
Another thing I dislike is that you could click the correct item and it will not work, if you click the item in a different place it will work.
Apart from this couple of thing I really enjoyed the game and found the time limit and the list of items challenging enough to keep me interested. You do have to repeat the same locations several times so by the later levels you will find some of the objects fairly quickly but there's always a couple of new ones thrown in to keep you interested.
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Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull (PC)
by masterpj
I'm a fan of hidden object games and had this one recommended to me by a friend. I picked it up on CD for PC in a game shop new for £5. It is a bigfishgames game so is also available on their website to download. A free trial version is available or you can get the full version for $2.99.
I think for this price it is good ... value as you can set up various profiles so several players can play the game without intefering with anyone elses game. Once installed on your PC, you do not need to insert the disc each time.
I find some hidden object can get repetitive but thought this was one of the better ones, the graphics are good and the characters when you click to talk of them are actual films of actors speaking (the acting is terrible but it's quite amusing).
I only played the game on normal mode but there are 3 choices:
Normal - For the average, normal, everyday player.
Southern - For players looking for an authentic Seep South experience.
Snarky - For players who appreciate a good insult between friends.
You can change the volume of the talking, music and environments and also select subtitles which I always do as I sometimes turn he volume off if I want to play and watch something on television at the same time.
If you are playing without sound however, you do need to pay attention as certain phone calls can give you information which you may not be able to get any further without.
Throughout the game you have access to a map and case report reminding you of what you have done and what you are doing now.
PLAYING THE GAME
Your cursor is a small arrow which turns into a magnifying glass when pointed near something of interest, when it is a magnifying glass you will get information on the item which may be of no use or may give you a hint that you will need later on.
The cursor turns into a larger arrow when near doors or areas which you can proceed to.
The Objective box on the screen shows which items you are looking for, this starts with looking for pieces of a map and some tape to tape the pieces together with.
Items found will move from the objective box and into your inventory.
You may need to find items not in the inventory to get the parts you need, for example one piece of the map is in the dog bowl which the dog will not let you near. Clicking on a painting it says you can feel something behind it so you may need other items such as food to distract the dog and a knife to cut behind the painting.
You can move to various rooms around the manor, clicking on the refrigerator in the kitchen will then give you a written list of objects to find (their fridge is worse than mine, containing objects such as a remote control, a phone and glasses). When you have found all of the items on the list you will be rewarded with an item placed in your inventory for later use.
Click on everything you see, even if it seems of no use the first time you are in the room, there may be something of use later in the game.
Hints are available if you get stuck, it then takes time for the hint meter to fill back up again but there doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of hints you can get. There's a few tricky puzzles which allow you to skip the puzzle or get a hint.
Towards the end of the game you will need to access the case file to find out dates and symbols which you will need to unlock gates etc.
THE STORY
The story is based in a manor which Mr and Mrs Dawson and their daughter Magnolia recently inherited. Mr Dawson has disappeared and you are there to gather clues and help to find him. Other characters include Mr and Mrs Lee who live in the carriage house, she is the cleaner and he is the gardener.
There are other characters you will meet along the way including Cooter, a neighbour with a shotgun who doesn't like strangers and his wife Charlotte who collects scary dolls.
There is also the man from the library, the bartender in the tavern and Madam Aimee from the Voodoo store.
Most people think the house is cursed or haunted and this could be the reason for Mr Dawson's disappearance. Most of the characters have never seen Mr. Dawson and think something suspicious is going on.
Locations include a kitchen, bedrooms, closet, music room, wine cellar, bathroom and living room inside the manor and a shed outside.
A tavern in the town, bar, kitchen, exterior.
Service station, Cooters house, Voodoo store, swamp, graveyard and more.
The game doesn't get dull as it isn't the same scenes over and over and it isn't too simple. If something is broken, chances are you'll have to find a way of fixing it. It something is locked, you'll need to find a key, if something is dirty you'll have to find something to clean it with. Some of the items you receive may puzzle you but they will all fit into place eventually. The puzzles vary in difficulty with a mixture between the normal listed hidden object screens and others where you may need to pick up objects along the way.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game, after a few saves and going back and forth to the game my final time was around 6 hours. I have to admit I skipped a few puzzles and got a few hints though so if you wanted to do it without any help it might take quite a bit longer. I'd play the game again to see what the other modes are like and to try and beat my time. I would recommend this if you can pick it up for a decent price.
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Supermarket Mania (PC)
by bettyboop2002
Supermarket Mania is a game for PC where you job is to run a supermarket, trying to reach a cash goal before the end of the day to progress to the next level. There are 2 goals in each level, one to pass the level and an expert goal which gives you a slightly better cash reward for completion. There are 5 stages or supermarkets which you ... are to turn around and make successful before moving on to the next.
Your job in the game is to stock the shelves using your trolley. When your trolley is empty you need to click on the storage cupboard to fill your trolley and allow you to fill some more shelves. Some customers may also drop rubbish on the floor which you need to pick up and place in a bin. If you don't do this other customers may trip and fall and leave the supermarket, losing any sales you may make.
In later levels you may also get thieves, you need to click on your security guard before the meter above the thieves' heads are full to stop them walking out with your products. If you wait until the meter is just about full you get quite a large cash bonus towards your days income.
On some levels you may get celebrity shoppers, who are very impatient and will clear a certain shelf and you will need to fill it quickly or they will walk out.
Teenage shoppers often run around the shop and make a mess, clicking your security guard will stop them making a mess.
The cash you earn from completing levels is to be spent on upgrades for your shop, you can buy better products which sell for more money. You can also upgrade the floor to stop customers slipping so easily, upgrade your store room so you can fill your trolley faster, upgrade your trolley so it can hold more goods, buy a sweets machine to place next to the till which each customer will purchase from, security cameras deter thieves, a coffee machine makes your character move faster and televisions and decor make your customers more patient.
The levels get a bit more tricky as you go along and you make have added goals such as not having more than 2 customers leave your shop but to me each level is just more of the same and it gets a little dull.
OVERALL
I enjoyed this game at first, after a few levels I was bored and found it repetitive. I had finished the game completely in a couple of hours so I wouldn't recommend it unless you can pick it up very cheap.
Younger players may enjoy it more, the age is 3+, children older than this would probably enjoy it but I find it a little easy for adults.
The options allow you to adjust the volume and screen size of the game. You can set up several new players and save each person's game under a different name which is good if more than one in the family would like to try it. You also do not need to have the disc inserted. Once it is installed you can remove the disc and just click the desktop Icon when you wish to play.
The version I have is compatible with Windows Vista and XP.
The game is available on many websites as part of free trial offers so I would recommend trying the trial before purchasing. The product is also available to download on some Android phones and Ipad now.
The PC game costs £4.06 on Amazon including delivery.
It is also available as part of a pack of 4 games for around £5 which I think would be much better value.
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