Do you wish to experience the magic world of mystery and creepy secrets with a brand new game brought to all Hidden Object game lovers by the world-wide famous game developer called Artifex Mundi? This exciting mixture of Hidden Object game, Puzzle genre and Adventure comes to you under the name of Dark Arcana: The Carnival. So, if you are ready for the scariest and the most mysterious visit to a carnival, join us in this review of Dark Arcana: The Carnival!.. Read more
A spooky, old carnival has been used for so many times as the main setting for Hidden Object games, but this game proves that it one can still get something fresh and cool out of it, if the story, graphics and music are good. The storyline of this game might not be the most original of all times, but it is still fun and interesting to follow. You take on the role of a private investigator who is summoned to a downtown carnival to find as much as possible about a strange disappearance of a young woman named Susan. Not given many clues, you’ll have to use all your logic skills to deduce what is happening there, and to fight off the supernatural forces that have started the mess in the carnival. An incredible twist waits for you as you unravel the evil master plan of your kidnapper. And a little secret about the plot: don’t expect for this story to happen only in one world!
The gameplay in Dark Arcana: The Carnival is very good, though, to be honest, it is very easy. The game itself is single player game, but you have your partner throughout the whole game, a trained monkey that will help you with some challenges and be involved in the story. The game has 3 difficulty levels, and there are many hints and a button to skip puzzles if you get stuck. There is also a map, but not a fast-travel map. The game tends to be short, around 3,5 hours, if you play on easy difficulty level, or if you use the skip and hint buttons. There is twenty nine Hidden Object Scenes, in which you have to find objects from the list, and some of them are interactive. There is as many Puzzle challenges, that is 29, and most of them are really easy, and they are not really original, but they are still fun. You can play rotating rings, Simon says, jigsaw etc.
What the developers of Dark Arcana: The Carnival must be extremely proud of, and what will excite you very much if you download and play this game, is the graphics of the game. The graphics in both worlds are sharp, clear, with smooth textures and really comfortable to look at. The colors are vivid, and it fits the theme of the game perfectly. However, sometimes can be hard to find a hidden object from the lists as it tends to fall into the shadows of the background. Another minor issue with graphics is the character looks, as some of the models look rather plain, they can be blurry and spoil the voice-overs.
The music in this game, no matter if you downloaded and purchased the full version of the game, or just played the free trial version, will surprise you in a good way! It is really a good feature of this game, as it fits the spooky atmosphere just right, the voice-overs are great and in the options, you can find different sound setting that can help you create the best gaming atmosphere for you.
To sum up, Dark Arcana: The Carnival is another Hidden Object/Puzzle/Adventure mixture game that has a mysterious carnival for the setting, but this one has many great twists in the storyline, which makes it great to play. Hidden Object scenes and puzzles are fun, but too easy, and although this doesn’t ruin the gaming experience, it may shorten it a lot. If you trust this review, then download the free trial or purchase the full game, play it and enjoy in rather good graphics, great music and sound effects! In spite of some minor flaws, Dark Arcana: The Carnival is still one of the best quality Hidden Objects games on the market!
