Do you yearn for the good old days and Mystery Case Files? UNSKIPPABLE PUZZLE BOARDS? Want to fly blind through a medley of electronic and mechanical mishaps to solve a mystery? Wage war against evil and remove ancient curses in a tropical jungle? Then you?ve just found heaven. I finished the demo in about 40 minutes, but half of that time was spent in the Strategy Guide, not the game. As well as the puzzle boards (2 in the demo), there were a few STANDARD PUZZLES, some within my reach, most of them not. There was also a lonely little HO. The story is portrayed very dramatically from the start, strange shamanesque figures, Aztec (forgive me if it?s another culture) rituals and sacrifices. Your boss is attacked by his client shortly after retrieving a map for him. John is convinced the map is cursed, and there certainly are some queer things happening. Even the dog is behaving strangely. And the fridge, well, the fridge has developed a life of its own and has to be chained down. The freakish storm overhead adds lightning, thunder and ominous portents to the atmosphere, and you gotta be feeling pretty spooked. Three modes of play (I chose easy, huh!). You have an EXCELLENT HINT system, if you choose to use it, one click takes you through all the scenes to the next active zone. There is a MAP that shows where you?ve been but is not interactive and NO JUMP FEATURE. There are COLLECTIBLE scorpions, which appear right out there as part of the scene and are therefore actually easier to miss. There?s also a TROPHY ROOM & ACHIEVEMENTS. As above, PUZZLES are the focus of the game, but there is enough challenge in the adventure to warrant attention. The atmosphere is foreboding, and the GRAPHICS complement that, being somewhat heavy handed. Music portentous as well. BONUS CONTENT BONUS CHAPTER, GALLERY, REPLAYABLE PUZZLES & HOs, MUSIC, SG. I don?t know if I?ll end up buying this one, it?s a fair way out of my comfort zone, but I hea

I remember how much I enjoyed the Book of Desires and once again these developers have brought us a game that most defintely is a winner in my books. As I always say, sometimes less is more and while the game does not offer all the bells and whistles we see in recent CE games, it does offer just the right amount of extras to wet the appetite. Our opening cut scene shows a Native American conjuring up some sinister force against an unknown victim. Our story begins with a nightmare and our heroine suddenly fleeing into the night looking for her boss, only to find him wounded and babbling something about a map, a mysterious client and an evil spirit that is stalking him. And so our adventure begins and our task, find the missing detective and fight the evil curse. The Case of Shadows offers stunning graphics, wonderful hand-painted artwork and great ambient sounds and effects. I loved the Hidden object scenes, interactive and some with puzzles to solve and even collectables to find. What thrilled me were the mini-games that I came across during the demo, not the quick to solve puzzles we see so often, but some actually intricately designed that require some patience and just the right amount of challenge to make them interesting. Our adventure requires us exploring and finding tools for our inventory. We are equiped with a journal and a map that unfortunately does not allow for travel. Nevertheless, there are collectables as an extra treat (50 scorpions that were not so easy to find) and trophies to earn that actually require you to perform tasks. A game that I will play leisurely and enjoy the thrill. A very well put-together game that not only offers the fun factor but a dark tale that will no doubt bring chills to my spine. Bravo to the developers and thank you BFG for this game that is definitly on my to-do list for tonight. Right after everyone turns in, I will put on the old sleuthing hat, turn down the lights and turn up the volume; what a great way to start off the week-e

Pretty good game. Has 3 modes to play. Not your easy game to play but still worth the time. Has Voice over and the music is good. The graphics are also pretty good. Has a map Hint button works good and I needed it The HOS are good and the puzzles can be hard. Some good and some a challenge. Has a pretty good flow to the game.

BASED ON COMPLETED GAME + BONUS CHAPTER in ADVANCED, the 2nd of 3 modes, HOS sparkle, few black bar hints. I thoroughly enjoyed the originality of the very interactive and original HOS, the clever and somewhat challenging mini-games, and the adventure. -There are a lot of things to find. There were only a couple of let downs - Not enough to reduce it from 5 stars though. This is a good choice for those who pay attention to the artwork and enjoy a balance between HOS, mini-games, and adventure. The story does deal a bit with the occult and the collectables are scorpions so that will be an automatic turn-off for some. GAME CONSTRUCT ------------------------- STORYLINE: A friend gets wrapped up with a Shaman and an enchanted map and must be saved. The bonus chapter was an epilogue and disappointment - HOS after HOS after HOS with originality left behind. JOURNAL: Very good. Frequently referenced for mini-games. No need to write anything down. WACKY-SIDE-KICK: There is none. THANKS TEAM! MAP: Ok. No jumping to location but a snapshot for each area visited. A fair amount of schlepping back and forth but not enough to be tedious. ARTWORK/GRAPHICS: Truly excellent. HOS items well crafted and in keeping with Shaman/Western Indian theme. Terrific variety of scenes between the first part of the game that takes place in and around a mansion and the latter half that takes place at an archeological dig in the desert. iHOS: The game is a bit front-loaded with the really interesting scenes in the first hour (during trial play). As others have mentioned, they are highly interactive and some resemble the Ravenhearst series in that a series of steps are required to complete the scene. I absolutely LOVED these! Unfortunately, none to be found later in game play. MINI-GAMES: These also were in keeping with the theme, original, and fun. They ran the gamut from moving circles to form Sun and Moon to open a door, open a suitcase by matching colors and letters, to cracki

This to me is a 10/10 game. I am loving every minute of it. I beta tested this game and after knew it was going to be a definite buy. I would have paid full price, but ah well, never could turn down a sale, especially one as nice as that. :) Story: Missy got a call from her friend John, but when she got there, there was no answer from the ring of the doorbell. After we finally got inside the gate the door was wide open and there was poor John knocked out on the floor. When he came to, he's telling us a map of all things is causing all the ruckus. Graphics: Absolutely beautiful. The cutscene in the beginning was awesome and spooky. Mini games: Simply fun. The one puzzle with the gramophone reminds me of that Mousetrap game. The puzzles are challenging but not frustrating. I didn't even skip one when I played the beta version. Really a fresh idea to the puzzles. Music: Fits just right with the game. Beautifully done! Hint System: Works in and out of the game. I didn't use it in the game I am playing now, but IIRC the hint takes you where you need to go. Map: I used it in the beta and it wasn't a jump IIRC, but I don't need it right now, so I can't say. All in all, kudos to a job well done. You go team!

If there were more stars to give this game in the challenge department I would. This game is certainly not for those people that don't like a real challenge. I have been playing these games for years (hate to say how many) and it was tough for me. I passed on a couple of the puzzles (one was with marbles spinning around) so I could finish the demo. I will be buying this game and then I can take the time to do them. The hidden object games are a little difficult but not bad. The mini-games I found a lot of fun because to receive the object you need you have to figure out how to interact with certain things in the scene and then it will give you the object. I like that and some of them were pretty tricky. The game is well drawn and everything is clear and easy to see. It is the basic battle of good versus evil and all the trials that brings to you to solve. Good story line and sound and voices are good. Thank goodness for the help button because I needed it a few times and it gets you to where you have to go or shows you what needs to be done. The Collector's edition has all the extra little things to do or collect and the strategy guide. I don't find them that appealing so I will wait for the SE and buy it then. The map is not a jump map so you will have the back and forth to do. I am eagerly waiting for this one as it is certainly going to be a challenge and one that I will enjoy. Hope you do too!!

It's time for the Enigma Agency to solve another case, those evil shadows! A shaman Mayan Indian has come to your bosses house demanding that he finds his sacred map! When you arrive at John's house, you find him out cold on the floor and a curse is effecting everything in the house. As you investigate you will find that John has built a really weird puzzle lock on every door in his house and that at least one piece is missing on every puzzle. These are fun puzzles such as a disc that turns with a colored hole on all four corners as well as four smaller discs inside the larger disc with four colored marbles in each disc that you have to rotate to allow the right marble to drop into the color coded slot. The HOS is actually a series of Rube Goldberg machines ( a machine that uses several unnecessary steps to achieve a single goal) such as a candle burns a rope, the rope detaches a car that rolls down a track bumps into a button etc. Some of the parts are broken or missing and you have to fix them and add items from your inventory. There are also interactive list items that also contain scorpions that you find hidden throughout the game! Achievements are also available for not using the hint system in a HOS or finding items quickly. With crystal clear graphics and an interesting story, you will find yourself clicking on the "buy" button right after the demo.Enjoy!

This is an excellent adventure! However, coming on the heels of yesterday?s great Poe game, this one might suffer in comparison. Hope not. I loved it!. Your boss acquires a mystical map and needs you to help defend against the supernatural forces invoked. The demo went by so quickly I was unexpectedly drawn in and felt compelled to find out what happens. Stunning graphics and artwork are always a plus for me. I was also pleased that the gameplay provides plenty to do in each scene, with lots of challenge. The map (not interactive) and task list assist, but there is still a lot of to-and-fro required. For me, this is always a flaw. I found the narration by the female character annoying as well, but that's personal taste. Regardless, it?s an enjoyable adventure that keeps you on your toes. Engaging cutscenes, unobtrusive music and ambient sound enhance the atmosphere. The HOS in the demo surprised me. I was expecting the usual (ho?hum) lists, but discovered it was necessary to manipulate the elements in sequence to obtain the item needed for use elsewhere or to solve a puzzle. A nice change! Collectibles and achievements require keen eyes and add to the challenge factor. Even without the super sale this weekend, this CE is a must have!

This game a excellent. The graphics a crisp and professional. The puzzles are off the chart just plain hard, but still very fun to solve. Interactive HOG scenes add to the fun. The story line is a bit standard: boyfriend involved with a spooky character, ends up kidnapped but for me the story is just window dressing to the puzzles. There are trophies achieve and scorpions to find adding to the repeat game play. There is a map with tasks listed but unfortunately it has no jump feature, a minor negative. All in all a great game...and I got it at %40 off today!

It's all been said in the previous reviews, so I won't waste your time repeating the good news -- even though it merits repetition. Welcome back to a game with some challenge, genuine fun, and refreshing, new aspects. This is not just the same old formula. A treasure for your inventory of games has arrived.