Jewel Quest Mysteries: Curse of the Emerald Tear

Jewel Quest Mysteries: Curse of the Emerald Tear was born at the turn of two different genres hidden object games and match-three puzzles. This new hybrid from iWin fuses a seek-and-find adventure related to Egyptian lore with classic Jewel Quest gem-swapping. So let us see if it can be called a good experience.

According to the plot you are to help Rupert and Emma to discover the secrets of ancient Egypt and the curse of past regents. As it was to be expected nearly all the time you have to explore busy backgrounds to find the items from the list. In fact you won’t have any problem with searching of one or another object as they are all recognizable and clear. But if you click on an incorrect items three times you lose 30 seconds off the clock. During the game do not forget to collect coins on each level, which can go towards the number of Hints you can click when stuck, as well as colored gems, used as a kind of currency when selecting an upgrade after every few levels.

Jewel Quest Mysteries: Curse of the Emerald Tear has puzzles and other mini games. Most of the puzzles are based on match-three style and give a fun break from the main game. Another kind of puzzle is less intuitive and thus less enjoyable; it involves selecting the correct gems in the proper order and dragging a design it makes onto a board. Frankly, the concept of this very task is rather vague and you need some minutes to catch its idea. Another sore point of this title is some technical problems as it takes a long time to load, runs slowly and even crashes on occasion.

Moreover, when you revisit the same location, and you will early on in the game, the items are in the exact same place. Although you’re asked to find new items, you’ve likely combed the screen multiple times before; therefore you’ll find the new set of items much faster than the first visit.

However, Jewel Quest Mysteries: Curse of the Emerald Tear is notable for its appealing music and fine graphics, but with a number of defects it cannot produce a good effect.

3, December 2009