Reviews for Antique Mysteries: Secrets of Howard's Mansion

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Happy gaming!

bfgBaikal

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bfgBaikal

Old fashioned game full of sparkles. Shame because it seems to have quite a lot of puzzles which we like. The sparkles are leaning me towards deleting it but I'll wait to see what others think.

I could not finsish the demo. The graphics look like my older hog games. I did like the voices.

No difficulty levels offered.

I am not familiar with the dev for this game.

The first hog scene in the game had constant sparkles/flashes mid screen for the next step after the scene was completed

Could not see the hidden objects I felt they were all to small and I could hardly identify them and could not see alot of them. Obviously a no purchase for me even on a DD.

I hope the fishies with better eye sight than me will enjoy this game.

Happy gaming

The HO's are very hard to see even with my glasses I had a hard time seeing the items lol...............................not for me no buy here the puzzle are quite interesting what a shame but thats one fishy's opinion demo it and see for yourself..................

This is not a review because I never review anything without finishing it first, but there is no comments thread.

This is great!!! I absolutely love it and my gut feeling is that it is only going to get better. It's logical and intelligent and I love that when you first walk into a big, beautiful room, the entire thing is one big HOS at first. Then there are other things to do in it. They have also gone to the trouble of creating some new puzzles of their own.

The Flying Dutchman can go take a flying leap, and after it has landed, it can just wait. This is much more interesting.

I believe this is an INVISIBLE object game! When objects are this small it takes the enjoyment out of any game. No buy for me.

From a dev that I'm not familiar with comes this peculiar, but challenging game in which you are to locate many antique items that have been carefully hidden throughout the mansion of a now deceased nut case. The long gone owner of the mansion and the antiques apparently had a paranoid need to keep building secret rooms to store the antiques----sort of reminds me of Sarah Winchester's mystery house in San Jose (who was sadly driven by who knows what).

Anyway, you'll need your thinking cap for this one to determine the next steps to take after clearing HOS.

As I got further into the game, I caught on to the pattern of what they wanted amd found it to be very different and a great deal of fun. Someone put considerable thought into this one, and I appreciate the effort.

There are not many bells and whistles, but there is a handy map and a journal replete with its own hints. A few voice-overs, as well, that are decent sounding.

The puzzles are different sometimes tossed in with some run-of-the-mill style.

But overall, it's different enough to be quite unique, and I liked it very much and will buy it----but I don't know that it's for everyone. It's such a pleasure to have the free test run on these games----so take advantage of that and give it a try.

For those who have been asking for something a little different----here you go!!!!


(And now I'm off to the circus!!)

This review is based on the demo:

There is only one gameplay mode, but you can click "Hide Tips" in the Option section.

There is a choice of custom and system cursor.

There is voice-over.

There is a JOURNAL at the left, which also shows you your objectives.
The OBJECTIVES section also has a "Hint" button which, when clicked on, will tell you what your next step is to get the objective done.

There is a MAP on the right, just above the HINT button. It shows you where you are, where the next secret room can be found, once unlocked, and where you still have things to do, and it shows all the other locked areas.
You can't use the map to jump.

The MENU button in the shape of a lion door knocker is at the top left side.

The HOS (hidden object scenes) are in the main scenes - some of them have better and some of them have worse graphics. On the whole, the graphics could have been better.

The HINT button, which also works outside of the HOS, only takes about 30 seconds to refill.

There are quite a few puzzles to do, and they seem really fun and intriguing. Also, you have to find keys with which to unlock the secret rooms.

--- --- ---

All in all this is a rather fun and interesting game. I am not too happy with the graphics when I have to find hidden objects, but I can overlook that, because otherwise this is a really good game.

Off to buy.

I liked the game. There are not so many HOS (for the adventurers), and the main action is solving puzzles and adventure mode, and going to and from restoring the mansion. Of course there is some mystery which holds your interest.

Graphics are excellent, and I enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. About the sparkles - when you enter the location they stop, and the second visit requires only use by the magnifying glass.

The hint system is very fast and generous - the skip button refiles in less than a minute, so the hint button. When you click on the hint, it gives you arrows directions. Very comfortable for stuck players.

Thanks developers, thanks BF.

Rave, rant, enthuse and gush!

My gut feeling was right. It gets even better. Not only that, but it keeps getting better throughout. There are numerous delights and surprises in every location, not seen before in other games. It's chock full of wonderful innovations that kept me totally absorbed. I didn't even stop for my usual coffee break. I'm actually dying for the loo.

These devs listened when we said we want new and different and they called up a plethora of creative talent, and delivered just that.

I wouldn't have passed it up for the world and I am soooo sorry I have finished it. 3.5 hrs of total enjoyment.

Excellent work, devs. You know where it's at and you've got what it takes.

Oh, well, I guess now it's back to The Flying Whatshisface.

A really interesting little game. I enjoyed every minute of it. Only complaint was that there weren't enough minutes!! It was a pleasure to play a game where there were no dark and gloomy scenes, and if some of the objects in the HOS were a little small, there was no penalty for over clicking so I just clicked away untill I found them!
More of the same please. Kudos to the developers for making such a little gem

havasulady wrote:I believe this is an INVISIBLE object game! When objects are this small it takes the enjoyment out of any game. No buy for me.

I'm glad it isn't just me! The objects aren't even visible after you use the hint! I really wanted to like this game but I don't need the eyestrain. So we have two games offered today that aren't worth buying.

Just finished the demo. After reading the previous reviews, I agreed about difficulty to find hidden objects but it is interesting to see that they are blending to others. But, it is better than boring "easy to find" type. Might buy this game.

this is a MUST BUY FOR ME!! so happy with this intelligent and different from the usual lately. Quiet, great great puzzles, love the hidden objects (they are not easy to find, but then again that's why we call them HIDDEN objects)!!

It just makes sense regarding game play. The hint works in all areas and there is a map.

Don't know how long it is but don't care.

Off to buy.

Thank you developers and BFG!!

I beta tested this one and found it very different from the usual ghosties, goblins, dead pirates, witches etc. I thought it had good, bright graphics, some interesting puzzles and wasn't as easy as it looked! On the minus side, the HO scenes are some of the hardest I have ever done - very old-school with seemingly thousands of tiny items in each scene!

It's not really my cup of tea, the storyline didn't grab me enough, but for HOG fans who don't like the prevalent occult-themed games this could be fun

I bought this game. I think the puzzles are the best feature. The hidden objects are small but they are not in junkpiles. I love mansions. Clever game.

Well this game is not so bad, nice story, kind of a twisted version of Winchester mansion.

A true HOgame, I also have problems with the HOscenes but knowing that this game favors tiny objects in the scenes, looking for those littler ones around is a priority and I make it fun clicking before even looking at the list to see how many I get right.

Nice graphics and plenty of puzzles.

Well, I usually don't expect much on a Monday after a CE Sunday, but this game is a pleasant surprise! Some real thought and imagination went into this one!

(After a goodly portion of the demo, then the "Buy It" button)

**Very well-done intro, with good voice acting on the part of Seymour, the Groundskeeper--the voice suits his looks perfectly.
**Decent Options Menu--Music and Sound FX sliders, screen and cursor choices, turn on/off tips (this, in effect, makes for two gameplay modes).
**Storyline is different--B4 his demise, oil tycoon built several "secret" rooms at his estate, and placed prized antiques here and there. Our job--to find the rooms and find the antiques and restore them to the "gallery."
**Graphics are OK if a bit amateurish; H0 scenes aren't junk piles, but finding the items (which are on an "earned" scroll) is a bit of a challenge, requiring good eyesight!
**There is a handy Journal, and a map, which shows your location, and rooms in the estate yet to be explored--no "jump to" function, though.
**Hint system and Skip button re-up pretty quickly.
**Puzzles are pretty fun--first one is a "take-off" on a Concentration-type "now you see it--now you don"t--gotta pay attention!

This is a good offering--hope we see more from this developer!

Regards, elldee

(ETA: Punctuation)

thanks for the warnings about the objects being so small. I have poor eyesight and although this looks a really nice game with good graphics. No buy for me.
Wish big fish would get some happier games. to much gloom and doom lately.