Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst

Ugh. This game might be great if you're training for the hidden-object game Olympics. Not so much otherwise.

It's just a very difficult hidden-object game that almost exclusively comprises very difficult hidden-object scenes. There is no point-and-click adventuring and there are only two types of puzzle mini-games. I quite enjoyed a few of the unique puzzles! But, unfortunately, the hidden-objects scenes are difficult for annoying reasons: very low resolution, tiny and poorly rendered objects, objects covered by other objects, ambiguous item requests, precise pixel hunting, etc. The game essentially keeps repeating the same small amount of scenes again and again while asking you to point out a random list of objects. You are ranked according to how fast you play.

Two more annoyances: First, when you click an object you have to wait for the animation to end before being able to click on the next object. This defeats the sense of flow that is so enjoyable about this genre, and is plain silly when the point in this particular game is to work quickly. Second, the sound effects. I was completely amazed to read reviews here in which people praised them. I found them the most annoying sound effects I've ever experienced in a game.

It's impossible for me to recommend this game to anyone.