Hidden Mysteries: Buckingham Palace

For a seek n' find game, this is the easiest one to see. While some things take a bit to find, the images are not filled with overcrowded miscellany.

The complaint I've had in the past with other games is that they are timed. It becomes a death race to find the last white-on-white feather on a bridal dress... Buckingham Palace has two modes; timed and relaxed. You can play the entire game in relax mode, which is awesome. You are also not penalized for hitting the wrong object or some other part of the screen when you are moving the image.

The game also provides little factoids about each area of Buckingham Palace. Its kind of cool. There is also a storyline that requires you to solve puzzles with items you found in previous locations. Solving these puzzles enables you to move to the next chapter and acquire the crown jewels. The mini-puzzles are very easy to solve.

Its not Million-Heir, but its beats that stupid Bridezilla game anyday...

As an Anglophile, I was really looking forward to this game. While it seems a little sacrilegious to hang a pretzel on a wall of the palace, I guess the Royals will survive the shock.

The game is set up in several stages with 2-5 'rooms' in which we play seek and find. Some of the items that are found are added to our inventory. At the end of each stage we have to solve a puzzle with the items in our inventory.

You can play this in 'Relaxed' or 'Timed' mode. There is a 'Hint' feature as well that is cleverly handled. You probably won't need it, but it is there. The payment system for the hints requires you to find crowns in each room.

The best thing about this game is that the items you are seeking are actually visible! Some are better hidden than others, but a little time looking will pay off. I enjoyed the game but I wish it had been a little more difficult. While the puzzles can be tricky, they aren't all that hard.

This was a pretty short game - maybe 6 hours - with no replay value unless you wait a long time to forget the solutions to the puzzles. But, it was fun for those hours.

If you like seek and find, then do get this one. It is above average in enjoyment.

Hint: take notes as you go. Some will not be of any help, but you don't know ahead of time what will be helpful in solving the puzzles. Plus, it adds a little time and interest to the story line of the game.

This is one of the better hidden object games I've seen for the DS. The story is interesting enough, though a little vague in spots, and the objects are actually large enough to be visible, a real problem in the games that started on the PC and were transferred over. I never felt rushed or half-blinded, and the ample hints made gameplay less frustrating and more fun than some games.

Only downgrade I'd note is that replayability is minimal. Once you've been through it once, that's pretty much it. A good occupation for a long plane trip or a rainy Saturday, maybe, but not much more than that.