The Treasures of Mystery Island is the second Alawar game that I’ve reviewed in as many weeks. And just like Snark Busters, it is a hidden objects game. I certainly have a type.
The game thrusts the main character, Alex, onto Mystery Island where he must find objects to move from one area of the island to the next with the ultimate goal of escaping. Each level consists of three to four locales that are jumbled messes. Hidden object pieces are strewn about each locale. After all of the pieces of the object are found, Alex can put the object in its proper place in that locale or one of the others in the level. Certain hidden objects will create an action in the locale that will reveal another hidden piece or new puzzle. This is how the game moves along.
After finding all of the objects and solving the puzzle at each level, theme specific objects (firemen, teacher, florist, etc.) are placed in the locales that need to be found before progressing. It is a nice addition to the game and gives the players the opportunity to hunt out more objects.
The puzzles in the game, for the most part, were insanely simple. This is a common problem I encounter in games like these, so I don’t fault the game designers too much. The puzzles have to be simple to cater to a wide variety of players and I understand that. I still found the experience unfulfilling.
The generic title and simple puzzles aside, I found the game fun. It isn’t the best hidden object game I’ve played (even by Alawar), but it’s worth a look none the less. The game is currently available on Google Play and Amazon for $0.99. Like all hidden object games, I recommend playing the game on a tablet. The objects may be too small to find on a phone.
Rating: 6/10
Published: Jun 7, 2012 05:24 pm