Deadtime Stories

Is Deadtime Stories, a new hidden object game from I-Play, as spooky as its title? Not really. While it is executed in gloomy atmosphere from its apt music background to its busy scenes, you needn’t hole up at all; nothing is going to frighten you there.

In spite of its vivid, devilish presentation and grim storyline, Deadtime Stories is just the usual point-and-click game with heaps of different puzzles, challenging mini-games and lots of hidden object scenes. However, the game can be proud of the good choice of hidden items, which perfectly support creepy environment, and well-organized gameplay. Some of the objects you need to search are too vague – no wonder, you are roaming about voodoo’s territory – but the items are vary from search to search, so they never feel repetitious, even when you have to visit one and the same location for two or three times. Unfortunately, the names of some items are not straightforward, so it may bewilder you a little bit but using quickly refilling hints solves those problems easily.     

Hidden object backgrounds are pretty good, but they fade in comparison with Deadtime Stories’s puzzles that are highly original and imaginative. You will hardly ever want to skip them as all these tasks contain a fine portion of challenge. Do not think that this premise is absolutely dauntless. We are sorry if we have misled and defined the game’s nature as a fearless one. Ghosts, poison, skulls, curses, voodoo spirits are all there to add an authenticity to the story. Surely, there are few complaints on its voice acting as it sounds strange most of the time, however, is quite bearable. All in all, this title is worth playing and can easily hook you from beginning to end. Boo!

3, May 2010