If you’re wondering where all the adventures have gone, we’ll tell you where: they’ve gone casual! So much so, it’s impossible to keep up with reviews for them all. But since casual games are here to stay and getting ever more adventure-like by the day, we’re determined not to let new titles of interest simply fall through the cracks. To ensure they don't, we’re launching our latest monthly (or thereabouts) round-up of new casual adventure releases.
Think casual games are nothing more than matching gems, popping marbles, or finding lists of cluttered junk? Think again! Tried some a while back and think you’ve seen them all? Au contraire! Look again, and you may just be surprised at how far this rapidly evolving subgenre has come. They may not be The Longest Journey, but these shorter excursions offer whole new worlds to explore, often beautifully designed and packed full of puzzles and adventurous new challenges. They may be “lite” but they’re for real.
This feature is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all games with some adventure elements, merely those we feel have significant enough genre elements to warrant inclusion. Please note that these are not intended to be reviews, and the games listed may not have been played through to completion. The article’s purpose is simply to act as a signpost for games that may appeal to adventure gamers. Take ‘em or leave ‘em, the choice is yours. But now you’ll know, and all download links come with free one-hour trial periods to check out for yourselves.
Lite Adventures
Royal Trouble
Unlike most of the games released in September, Orchid Games’ Royal Trouble is a straightforward point-and-click adventure, albeit a fairly streamlined one. There’s little story to speak of, as a brief introductory narration sets the stage: two unlikely characters have been captured and locked in a medieval dungeon, and must now escape to return to their respective kingdoms. Our heroes turn out to be Princess Loreen and Prince Nathaniel, who form an uneasy alliance to overcome their obstacles, though at times they’re more a hindrance than help to each other.
Despite its dungeon setting, Royal Trouble is a bright, vividly coloured adventure with a charming cartoon aesthetic. You’ll see rats and the skeletal remains of your unsuccessful predecessors, then cheerfully continue on your way. The dialogue is lighthearted and fun as well, as the two royals bicker every time they meet up, presumably smitten and yet suspicious of each other at first. The pace is every bit as snappy as the banter, as the confined settings and clear, intuitive interface keep the adventure moving briskly, though there are plenty of optional objects to look at and consider along the way. If you do hit a snag, a progressive hint system offers tiered clues on how to get past the various obstacles in the current scene. You shouldn’t encounter much “royal trouble” of your own, but it just might be fun to guide others through theirs.
The Fall Trilogy: Chapter 2 – Reconstruction
Remember Kheops? Once one of the genre’s most prolific developers, the French studio recently set its sights on more casualized fare with the launch of The Fall Trilogy. It’s been a while since the debut of Chapter 1 – Separation, but now the second installment has arrived. Reconstruction plays very similarly to its predecessor, though at first glance the two episodes have very little in common. The first took place in an Asian temple, and the sequel occurs in a modern day high-rise office building. You’re still the same protagonist, however, on the same surreal adventure, as you’ll discover soon enough when you begin playing.
Puzzles run the gamut from logical inventory application to spatial brainteasers to variations on Minesweeper, and there’s a clear attempt to integrate most of them into the environment. Some work better than others, like connecting loose colour-coded wires or selecting which surveillance cameras to operate at any given time, but others are far more loosely worked in. Solving a jigsaw to kill time while a guard is nearby or a slider to delete an answering machine message are more noticeably contrived. There’s an occasional need to find sets of various items on a single screen, like keycards or electrical components, but these are quick, easy, and fairly infrequent. All this is done with the expected production values; the graphics clear (if not displaying the most exotic of locations) and the game fully voiced by the protagonist. In fact, it’s easy to tell this is Kheops all around. Apart from a bit more streamlining, The Fall Trilogy plays very much like the studio’s full-fledged offerings of the past, only episodic in nature, and should appeal to any puzzle-adventure fan.
Nightmare Adventures: The Witch’s Prison
“Creepy” is a word used often in Ghost Ship Studios’ Nightmare Adventures: The Witch’s Prison, and it's easy to understand given the vibe for which this title is going. Dark in tone, the tale begins with Kiera Vale being interrogated by government agents for reasons unknown, before playing out in a flashback as Vale explores her recent inheritance: Blackwater Asylum. Upon her arrival, a unsettling meeting with the groundskeeper and a subsequent search of the grounds reveal a disturbing mystery involving a secret agency, an evil witch, and a family legacy that dates back centuries.
Locations within the game are varied, as you'll find yourself rummaging around a cottage, exploring a bleak graveyard and uncovering a sinister turn of events in a chapel, as you try to uncover precisely what the government agency is up to, and why Kiera was actually summoned to the asylum. A few of the puzzles aren't that well explained along the way, but Nightmare Adventures is a well-presented, slick piece of casual entertainment, with elegant use of sound and detailed, intentionally gloomy artwork. And, of course, extra “creepy”, like you’d expect from any nightmare adventure.
Mystic Gateways: The Celestial Quest
Ten Heavens’ Mystic Gateways: The Celestial Quest includes both item hunts and puzzle-filled exploration, but it’s really more of a hyper-streamlined, task-based adventure than a traditional casual hybrid. Cast as a young woman following her fellow “Shadow Vanguard” member through a series of inter-dimensional portals to such destinations as the pyramids of Egypt, the Brazilian rainforest, and Easter Island, players must successfully overcome a series of obstacles in order to access the next gateway and proceed. During your travels, you can expect to gather plenty of inventory and find the usual complement of logic puzzles, whether it’s rotating dials, aligning circuits, or other standalone tasks you’ve likely encountered before.
Artistically, Mystic Gateways is more functional than attractive. The design is certainly competent, but the graphics are static and bland, and even the choice of locations feels fairly generic. The music is repetitive but culturally suitable to each area, creating more variety as you go. Unfortunately, there are very few notable sound effects to liven things up, contributing to the rather flat, uninspired presentation overall. There are plenty of things to do besides gawking at the scenery, however, and the constant string of tasks should keep you briskly on the move from one gateway to the next.
Escape from Frankenstein’s Castle
PlayFirst and Spark Plug Games have hit the ground running with their new take on a classic tale in Escape from Frankenstein’s Castle, blending adventure and object gathering elements seamlessly together. The story kicks off with Hannah and her fiancé Horatio riding their motorcycle along a dirt road. Suddenly, a shadowy, monstrous-looking figure lurches out before them, causing the bike to careen over the edge of a cliff. Some time later, Hannah wakes up in a towering castle with amnesia, and is instructed to carry out some menial tasks for the owner of the castle, Victor Frankenstein. As the story progresses, her memory slowly begins to return, and with help from Isabella, the ghost of a previous victim of the Doctor, players must try to find Horatio and guide Hannah to an escape route.
The art style is suitably gothic and foreboding, though the graphics aren’t particularly crisp. Although referred to as a hidden object game, Frankenstein’s Castle is really a lite adventure, as any “hidden object” tasks are weaved directly into the gameplay. Instead of presenting a list of random items, the notebook advises you what you need to find and what to do with them to reach your objective. Such objects, like scattered books missing from their shelves, might be found across several locations and are handled like regular inventory items. The trickiest items to find are usually just for achievements or uncovering more of your ghostly guide's backstory. Apart from these optional tasks, the main game is fairly linear, as everything must be completed in a certain order, though you can freely roam around. The more you progress, the less the story seems to have to do with Mary Shelley’s original masterpiece, but it does largely succeed in piecing together an interesting new tale in its own right.
Hidden Object/Adventure hybrids
Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Black Cat
Having previously blown the lid off the Murders in the Rue Morgue, ERS Game Studios has turned once again to Edgar Allan Poe for the second Dark Tales installment, The Black Cat. Apart the occasional appearance of detective C. Auguste Dupin (who isn’t even introduced this time around), the two storylines share nothing in common, and at least at first, there aren’t many obvious similarities to Poe’s original work, either. (Which is probably good, because it would freak people out and cause PETA to implode.) After witnessing a woman’s brutal murder in silhouette during the game’s introduction, you’ll find yourself arriving at a stately Victorian home to investigate not only the disappearance of Madame Davies, but reports of her ghostly appearances ever since, accompanied by her black cat Pluto.
Presentation is a high point, as The Black Cat features impressive artwork, though many of the scenes are restricted to indoor mansion locations. That’s a shame, as the outdoor locations come complete with ambient animation and realistic sound effects. The stormy night setting is nicely staged with heavy clouds rolling, lightning peals, flooded gutters, and rumbling thunder. On the easier difficulty setting, twinkles highlight the interactive areas of interest, which is about the only help you’ll get in the main adventure. A journal records key information along the way, but there are no overt hints offered to help you out, though all standalone puzzles are skippable. The Collector’s Edition does include a strategy guide, but everyone else is on their own. As for whodunit, or if anyone dun it at all, that’s for the cat to know and you to find out if you’re willing to follow its lead.
Reincarnations: Uncover the Past
Vogat Interactive returns with a second installment of Reincarnations, as Uncover the Past continues the story of a journalist named Jane who can revisit past incarnations of herself and interact with those worlds. What began in Reincarnations: Awakening as research for an article has now taken a turn for the worse, as an evil doctor has found out about the power Jane wields and intends to make himself famous by studying her. To that end, Jane is kidnapped and committed to an ancient-looking asylum, and players must help her break free by going back through more of her past lives to discover the secrets that will help her in the present.
The graphics are sylish and attractive, but voiceovers have been dropped from the sequel, although this is probably a good thing since they were a noticeably weak part of the original. Sound effects are basic, but the background music is atmospheric, nicely reflecting the changes between different time periods and locales. By being able to move from one past life to another, new scenarios are gradually introduced, which keeps the storyline fresh and interesting. Whether it’s a man trying to solve his brother’s murder to a woman trying to free her lover from wrongful imprisonment, each serves as a mini-adventure in its own right. There are more hidden object sequences in this game than other hybrids on this list, but there are plenty of other things to see and do across time, which should keep you well motivated to see Jane’s plight through to the end.
Women's Murder Club: Little Black Lies
The release of Little Black Lies isn’t the first time the Women’s Murder Club series has appeared on the casual adventuring radar. With Jane Jensen serving as Creative Director, James Patterson’s popular franchise once seemed poised to the lead the way in melding the standard hidden object formula with lite adventure gameplay. But following A Darker Shade of Grey, the series took a step back towards more traditional casual fare with last year’s Twice in a Blue Moon. So where does the fourth PC installment fall?
As before, the game is a mix of hidden object searches and investigative adventuring, with some puzzles and minigames added to round out the experience. In the same scene, you may find yourself scouring through a dumpster for seemingly random items (some of which will prove useful) or simply searching the environment for necessary objects required to proceed. There’s an admirable attempt to integrate the object searches this time around, and inventory puzzles are frequent, maintaining a decent balance throughout. Lab work will include such standalone tasks as identifying compounds by their reactions and comparing magnified images. There are plenty of hotspots to click on for commentary, a journal to keep you up to date, and even a built-in strategy guide to walk you through every solution. You’re unlikely to be stuck for long anyway, but there’s more to see and do than the last WMC game, and if it’s not quite enough to make you feel like a real detective, at times you may just feel like an adventurer again.
Twisted Lands: Shadow Town
Another game getting the “Collector’s Edition” treatment at launch is Twisted Lands: Shadow Town, from Alawar Stargaze. A fairly traditional example of the current breed of HOG/adventure hybrids, the game tells a surprisingly creepy story of a young man who falls overboard at sea and is separated from his girlfriend, washing ashore on a seemingly deserted island. Its abandonment is a mystery, as there is plenty of evidence of civilization, from a grounded passenger ship with a giant hole in its hull to a church with its own cemetery, and even a small town. The more you explore this sprawling environment, the more you’ll learn about the terrifying curse of madness and disease that afflicted its previous inhabitants, some of whom you’ll see in brief spectral visions. With each new deadly anecdote uncovered in journals and letters, the need to find your girlfriend and discover a way home becomes increasingly urgent.
Hidden object tasks are regular but not particularly numerous. These close-up scenes are nicely designed and partially integrated, generally filled with reasonable (if unreasonably cluttered) objects. The only real failing is the tendency for new HOG tasks to pop up unannounced in the most unexpected of places, with nothing to alert you that a key item you need is now magically available in a place you’ve already visited often. Fortunately, the recharging hint option not only reveals hidden object locations, it also guides you step-by-step to the nearest solvable puzzle or unfinished task if you’re stuck. The Collector’s Edition includes a walkthrough and a new playable chapter. Set in a more confined area in and around a lighthouse, the additional gameplay is actually superior to the main game, and more tangibly frightening for reasons best experienced yourself. Whether the extra hour or so of gameplay is worth the added cost is a matter of taste, but kudos to the developers for making the “bonus” segment worthwhile.
Victorian Mysteries: Woman in White
Freeze Tag’s Victorian Mysteries: Woman in White provides a good bout of dark and moody game playing, which mixes casual adventuring and hidden object tasks with an intriguing story of forbidden love, wealth, and insanity. You play as Walter Hartright, an art tutor hired by the persnickety Lord Fairlie to help his beautiful daughter Laura and her somber half-sister Marian. On his way to the Fairlie estate, Walter encounters a sad looking woman dressed all in white. She disappears soon after you meet her, and thus begins a series of mysterious occurrences, each one drawing you deeper into a web of lies and intrigue. Along the way, Hartright falls into a romantic entanglement and has to use his powers of deduction and observation to uncover the sinister secrets threatening his happiness.
The well-told story is based on the Victorian-era detective novel of the same name by Wilkie Collins. The voice acting is strong (despite a few clunkers in the mix), and there are many, many characters to meet, from the titular woman in white to uptight old aristocrats and nefarious suitors. In fact, there are so many that the game provides an ingenious family tree outlining all the characters, their relationships, and secrets. A map and task list are included as well, along with a hint owl, which is helpful in finding objects in the hidden object scenes, but not so helpful during the regular adventuring. Clicking on the owl only highlights interactive areas – not very useful if you don’t have, and don’t know how to find, the object you need in that spot. All this adds up to very casual fare, but it makes for a fun time wandering around a 19th century manor and exposing its many hidden mysteries.
Dominic Crane 2: Dark Mystery Revealed
Match Gems’ Dominic Crane 2: Dark Mystery Revealed starts with the titular protagonist visiting a psychiatrist about his troubled dreams. These dreams are about his sister, who mysteriously disappeared as a child and now returns to him as fully grown woman, paying nightly visits to his subconscious. Through hypnosis, he is now able to search through his dreams to unravel this mystery by collecting scrolls along the way. Settings are spread across different worlds formed from Dominic’s dreams, whether from the Victorian era, the ancient Orient, or a forest treehouse, each consisting of a few explorable screens with plenty of items to gather and puzzles to solve.
Visually, Dominic Crane 2 is a mixed bag, as the background art is solid but compromised by the game’s low resolution. This becomes more evident when trying to find particularly small items, which can leave you with some eye strain, though a rechargeable hint button can help. The game also offers decent background music and sound effects. Still, the presentation here seems dated in comparison to many of its casual contemporaries, making it feel more like a “budget” title even among budget games. There’s some mild enjoyment to be had, but the game simply lacks the polish or refined gameplay elements that adventurers and casual gamers alike have probably come to expect. If you liked Dominic’s Dreamscape Mystery, there’s nothing here to discourage you from the sequel, but if you’re new to the series and hoping it compares favourably with other casual adventures available, you’d better pinch yourself, because you’re dreaming.
House M.D.
House M.D. is an anomaly among today’s same-old, same-old TV dramas. The snarky, antisocial, and brilliant diagnostician Gregory House (played by Hugh Laurie) and the doctors who work for him are to sick people what the CSI crew is to crime scenes. Each show presents a patient’s bizarre illness like a mystery the doctors must solve. Their attempts to do so are heightened by quick, cutting banter – some of the funniest writing on television today. In short: it’s a show that would make a great adventure game. And now it is one, from Legacy Interactive. Well, it’s a game, anyway, and it has some elements that adventure gamers will enjoy. Others… not so much.
Other minigames include Hangman-like word-guessing sequences (from a bunch of words floating around on the screen); lab tests that require clicking arrows and dials in specific orders; and a microbe-matching procedure. At the end of each minigame, you’re rated on how quickly the task was completed and the number of mistakes made. A few gameplay elements do feel more adventure-gamey. For instance, questions are raised to shed light on a patient’s condition using simple dialogue trees. There are also investigation scenes where you get to “scour” an environment for clues. The process is limited, however, with the cursor turning green whenever you can select something, and the items themselves having little or no obvious importance.
The character artwork is very good, with each of the main characters looking uncannily close to their TV counterparts. The pixelated environments in the investigation scenes are less impressive, and the close-ups of body parts and fluids in the procedure minigames can be fairly graphic. The snappy dialogue is true to the show, but without voice acting and gestures, some of the more biting lines come across much harsher (and less funny) than on television. Combined with the repetitive minigames, the end result is a very casual game with a few adventure elements, not the other way around, and it’s best recommended for fans of the show who don’t mind simple gameplay and aren’t overly squeamish.
Whew! That's it for one busy month. But this is only the beginning. The Casual Collection column (try saying that three times fast) will be back each month there's enough new content to report, so stay tuned!
Jack Allin, Robert Lacey, Merlina McGovern, Emily Morganti, Rob Murrant, and Robin Parker contributed to this article.