Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects

I've been hooked on "Mystery Case Files" games since the first one appeared last year (titled "Huntsville"). The goal in this series of games is to search for a list of hidden items that have been embedded within various pictures/locations - and to do it within a specified period of time.

In "Prime Suspects", the ultimate goal is to determine who stole the queen's "Hope Diamond". You do this by first locating the hidden items listed in each location within the time allotted. Once you find the clues/items for each suspect, you have to solve another puzzle through the "crime computer" in order to find out what each suspect was really up to at the time of the crime - are they innocent or have they made the "prime suspect" list?

The types of puzzles you'll have to complete include: reconstructing various pictures, matching games, & word finds. Because you aren't given any extra time to complete these puzzles be sure to work fast at finding the clues/items so that you have enough time to complete these puzzles - lest you have to start at the beginning again for that particular suspect.

Overall, I've found the "Mystery Case Files" games to be great fun and highly addictive! If you enjoy "search & find"-type games, you can't go wrong with "Prime Suspects"!

This game is very enjoyable. I get so sick of of all the war games and killing games. I am a mom who likes to play PC games. I get burnt out on the card games. So I want to play something different. All of these games are very enjoyable.

I have just recently become aware of the "hidden object" type game. My first experience was the newest Mystery Case Files, Madame Fate...also by Big Fish Studios. I then began to search for other ones and was thrilled to find three more MCF: Huntsville, Ravenhearst and Prime Suspects!

I've been playing Prime Suspects on and off now for the last few weeks and it is hard (SO HARD) to tear myself away from it! I'm am writing my first book and my deadline is in about 5 weeks...and if I keep playing Prime Suspects, I'm in trouble!

Seriously, though, the idea behind the MCF is absolutely brilliant: you visit different "scenes" of possible crimes and find the hidden object. In this case, it's different parts around town. (In the case of Madame Fate, it's different places around an amusement park/carnival).

For example, you may find yourself in the operating room of a fake physician, a bar tended by a rowdy soccer player, Mingo's Playhouse (full of intruments), a sewer, a train station, a junkyard, a rooftop, a theater...you get the idea. A list will appear to your right and you must click on the hidden objects, such as a top hat, feather, four butterflies, a crowbar, a woman's eye, an eight ball, an open book and so on. Some of these are quite cleverl; two bats may be, in fact, one flying mammal as well as a baseball bat!

If you or your child have ever seen the I SPY PC games, these are very similar. In fact, as you continue through the game, you'll eventually have to find a battery hidden within one of the areas. By finding the battery, you can then "enter" one or more darkened rooms or areas (like a vault). So when you move your mouse around, you can only see a part of the area at one time--just like a flashlight! (This, too, is one aspect of the I Spy games, particularly Spooky Mansion Deluxe.)

After you determine the whereabouts of each suspect, you then get one of three mini-games you must complete to move on: a word find (e.g. find the names of different herbs or pizza toppings), matching game (click on two tiles to make matches) or re-arranging a puzzle to re-create the area (WITH the suspect).

After playing Madame Fate to the end (I'm on the very last puzzle now), I found this game to be easier. While I've run out of time finding all the clues in Madame Fate, I have never once come close to running out of time with Prime Suspect.

If you're new to the hidden object PC games, this would be an excellent start. It's casual gaming (much less stressful than Madame Fate!) that is entirely addicting! And even if you find yourself in the same areas as the game progresses, the OBJECTS you must find change...so it's never boring!

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)

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