Game review: Dream Day First Home

Hm, I thought I had written about the Dream Day series of hidden object games but apparently I haven't. Well, you're in luck because a brand new piece of the puzzle has arrived. First we had Dream Day Wedding where you were preparing for your wedding. Then we had Dream Day Honeymoon where the newlyweds went on a tropical vacation. Now we have Dream Day First Home. I really love how each of these games progresses not only the overall storyline but also the playability. In Wedding, you have a very basic hidden object game with a bit of a Choose Your Own Adventure piece stuck in. When we moved to Honeymoon, the basics stayed the same but the difficulty got bumped up a notch. This time around, we are given more to customize - from the type of house the couple moves into down to what furniture they will put in their rooms. There is still a great hidden object game with a few little surprises but it's really the addition of the mini-games that makes it a blast.

Since the series is geared towards women, I'm not sure that men would find it interesting. Besides, there are enough games out there geared toward the boys, right ladies? So roll up your sleeves and jump into the wonderful world of home ownership!

Game review: Agatha Christie: Peril at End House

While I was never a fan of Agatha Christie's novels, I have found myself drawn to adaptations of her novels. It was Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple (Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple), the 39-episode anime series, that first drew me into the world of Hercule Poirot. This time I found myself playing the Agatha Christie: Peril at End House video game. Peril at End House is the story of the attempted murder of Nick Buckley. As Poirot, you must unravel the mystery of who would try to kill the current owner of End House and why they would even bother as the estate is rapidly falling apart. Each of the main levels are basic hidden object games. However, in between each level, you are given different types of puzzles in order to find more clues to direct you to a suspect.

I really enjoyed this game. The hidden object levels are difficult enough to make you think yet still easy enough to keep you from getting frustrated. That difficult-yet-easy rating follows through to the in-between levels. Sometimes you will need to match a suspect to a clue, which means you need to pay attention to all of the clues you come upon in the main levels. Sometimes there will be a ripped newspaper clipping that you will need to put back together. Sometimes it will be trying to figure out the combination to a safe. All of these tasks have a hint of difficulty in them but they are still easy enough if you pay attention to the clues. I have to say that I can't wait for the next Agatha Christie game to come out. I hope it's just as fun as this was.

Game review: Mystery P.I. - The Lottery Ticket

Mystery P.I. - The Lottery Ticket is a downloadable hidden object game from PopCap Games. The description from their website reads: Help Grandma Rose retrieve her winning $488 million lottery ticket in this richly entertaining mystery! Retrace Grandma's steps and uncover clues by finding hidden objects and solving tricky puzzles. Earn big points for accuracy and climb up the P.I. ranks. Do you have what it takes to solve the case? I found this to be a rather interesting hidden object game. You start out with a couple of areas on your map to search. Not all of them are buildings and some of them are rather unusual. Once you have gathered the alloted number of objects needed, you are taken to a memory game. With each level you have more areas on your map to search and you have a different memory game to play. You start off with a typical 'match the cards' game but then you evolve to 'match objects with the same color' and 'find objects that go together.' This is really an amazing way to make this game different from other hidden object games while engaging the player as well. Since each level is so different, you have to pay attention to the rules every time.

In my opinion, this would be a great game for an adult to play with a child. The hidden object sections are hard enough to keep the adult interested while the child will do better on the memory side of things. I know my daughter beats me every time we play Memory. Even if you don't have any children to play with, this is still a captivating game.