Find the newest hidden object games at Game Socks
8.8 ultra recommended
The Queen of England (seriously) has asked you, a certified Master Detective, to investigate spooky, locked up, cluttered Ravenhearst Manor. Emma Ravenhearst's diary has recently come to light, though pages are missing, and it's up to you to find clues, unlock the strange puzzle locks that somebody used to seal up the spooky manor, recover the lost pages of Emma's diary, and ultimately learn the secret history of the house.
Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst is the perfect game to play at night. In the basement. Of an abandoned hospital. So if you live near an abandoned hospital and have been trying to choose between Ravenhearst or Chuzzle, I can safely recommend the former.
The Ravenhearst Manor is haunted. Let's get that out of the way right now. No doubt about it. There are all sorts of ominous creaking sounds and ghostly whispers coming from the rooms. The howling of the wind, the howling of a cat, the howling of monsters... it's haunted. Did you see that episode of Ghost Hunters with the shadowy figure running up and down the lighthouse stairs?
Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst is a "find the object" puzzle game. Clues are hidden in thirty-two rooms in the manor. Putting aside whatever we learn about poor Emma during the course of the game, we know one thing from the outset: she's a psychotic packrat. Rooms are cluttered beyond belief. Skulls, black cats, gardening shears, musical instruments. Oh yes, there are many musical instruments in the house. Eggplants, masks, tire irons, soft serve ice cream cones, fried eggs, crutches, beetles, lizards, every fruit known to mankind... and more. Can you imagine how this place must reek in the warm, damp English summer? Anyway, your crime computer will give you a list of clues to find in each room. For example, a clarinet. Then all you have to do is click on the clarinet and place it in your clue satchel. It's as simple as that. Except that there are hundreds of objects in each room and some are partially hidden or blended with their surroundings. Good luck finding a chameleon clarinet that someone nailed into a shadowy recess on the freaking ceiling.
Sometimes the objects/clues are particularly difficult. Take a top, for example. When I say "top" an image probably comes to mind. A child's toy, perhaps. But in one room the "top" I was asked to find turned out to be the word "top" on the top of a cardboard box. I had to use the handy hint system to find that one.
Find enough clues (usually about three rooms' worth) and you will be given a chance at piecing together another entry in Emma Ravenhearst's diary. "Hold on!" I hear you say. "How exactly are these objects clues? Are they tied in with the story?" Not directly, but you have to use your imagination in a game like this. January, 1895: I've made a New Year's resolution. I shall never play the clarinet again. I have nailed it to the ceiling. February, 1895: A time traveler gave me a soft serve vanilla ice cream cone. It looks delicious. However instead of eating it I shall hide it on the porch behind a stuffed squirrel. And so on.
Piecing together entries in Emma's diary involves solving a puzzle showing a picture of the event she wrote about. Your crime computer, looking a bit Max Headroomesqe, gives you puzzle pieces which you can rotate and arrange over a faded version of the image you're trying to assemble. Get a piece at the right angle and in the right spot, and it will click into place. Once you reassemble the picture you'll receive the diary entry. And so the history of the manor unfolds... These diary puzzles are handled quite well and are fun to solve.
The third aspect to the game is the puzzle locks. Some rooms in the manor are locked behind elaborately designed Rube Goldberg locks. You have to click on buttons, slide things around, and in general either get lucky or figure out how the lock is meant to work and then make it work before you'll be allowed access to the room full of clues hidden behind it. Some of the puzzles are ingenious, and some are less so. Some also have mini-games. For example, as part of one puzzle lock, you must win tic-tac-toe against a ghost. (gasp!) (shriek!)
What Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst does best is atmosphere. The creaking floorboards and joints of the old house, the whispering ghosts (which perhaps whisper a little too much), and the wonderful art design of the rooms and their contents all invoke a creepy (if slightly cartoonishly creepy) atmosphere. Occasional items look like they are "offset" or "floating" above the background, but for the most part the clutter in the rooms is well-assembled. The game is professionally presented and well worth the purchase price to unlock the full version. Some people may be bothered by anachronisms, but players who are time travelers or historically ignorant won't mind. I know I didn't.
And once you finish the game, you can play again, since each time you'll be asked to find different clues.
Want to play this game up above.
According to one of the diary entries, Emma wasn’t the packrat. She also complained about Charles filling the house with loads of seemingly useless items.