Halloween Chronicles: Evil Behind a Mask Collector's Edition

[b]Halloween Chronicles 2: Evil Behind a Mask[/b] (IHOG or Match-3 Adventure) [i]Game provided for Curator review[/i] [i]A corny and colorful Halloween treat with a couple of mildly spooky moments.[/i] Options include separate sliders for Music, SFX, Environment and Voices, Stretch (non-default, the game starts with black bars on the sides), Custom Cursor, Full-screen and Special Effects. Choice of three pre-set difficulties, or you can go with Custom Mode. [b]Story[/b]: The Boogeyman's last act before being banished is to turn his followers into masks, knowing that humans will one day put them on and unleash his minions, buying himself the time he needs to regain his powers. You head over to your uncle's place for Halloween, where your father proceeds to try one of those masks on... Now you need to stop him from "waking" the other monsters before they can summon the Boogeyman back to our realm. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1911328973 There is no Journal, but we have a task list with a tab that will hold the notes that you find along the way. [b]Gameplay[/b]: Be on the lookout for collectible coins, book pages and morphing figurines. There are three indicators in your task bar that will sparkle if there's something you've not found on that scene/zoom-in yet. You will have only a few locations accessible at any given time, so backtracking is limited, but you need to make sure you've found all of the collectibles before moving on to the next area. Some things I really liked: [list] [*]The [b]MAP[/b] is interactive, but also has buttons right there on the screen to turn on/off active locations and/or places where there are still collectibles to find. [*][b]The logic[/b] is interesting. I really notice when we're asked to do something totally illogical, but I *also* love to see inventive ways to get things done. We are repeatedly required to think outside the box, but the solutions are (mostly) believable. For instance, using old fashioned, heavy headphones (with a springy cord) as a makeshift hook to grab something far away. That would totally work! The black bar popups from your character will give you hints to what needs to be done if you need it. [*][b]Inventory items[/b] combine in a way I've not seen before. You can zoom in on an item and place other items there on the zoom-in to finish combining when you have all of the pieces. Frees up some space in your tool bar. [*]Every [b]Mini-games[/b] has three buttons off to the side: Easy, Hard and Reset. Yes, there really are different solutions to the puzzles if you choose Hard! Major kudos to you, devs! I love that we can go with an easier option if Hard is too difficult! [/list] Directional [b]HINTS[/b] are available, and if the place you need to go is more than one screen away, the map will pop up to show you the way. The [b]Hidden Object Scenes[/b] have varying degrees of interaction, and every scene seems to be a different type, ranging from lists to silhouettes to riddles to making a potion by finding the ingredients. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1911232305 If you don't like the current HOS or can't find an item (and don't want to use a hint), you can switch to [b]Match-3[/b] (and back) at any time. The match-3 gameplay is fun and nicely Halloween-themed, and has some satisfying explosions when you charge pieces by matching five or more pieces. My only wish is that you could move pieces whilst new ones are falling into place. [b]Sights and Sounds[/b]: The graphics are vibrant and fun without being garish, and there are some quite beautiful scenes, as well. I did mention at the start of this review that the game is a little corny, and that would be mostly due to the voice acting. Start with normal voices, mix in the [i]overly[/i]-dramatic and add a lisping vampire, and I think you can see why I would say that! lol~ In addition, I spotted a couple of puns in the black bar pop-ups that had me snickering. [b]CE Content[/b]: [list] [*]Integrated Strategy Guide [*]Collectibles (see below) [*]In-game Achievements [*]Bonus Chapter [*]20 Wallpapers [*]5 Music Tracks (can be saved) [*]31 Cutscene Videos [*]18 Hidden Object Scenes [*]20 Mini-games [/list] [b]Collectibles[/b]: [list=1] [*]The [b]book pages[/b] you find will go into your Book of Monsters, which you can find in the Extras section [*][b]Figurines[/b] also have a section in the Extras, and you can click on them to enlarge and read about them (mythological creature lore) [*][b]Coins[/b] are used to purchase decorations for your Trophy Room [/list] [b]Bonus Chapter[/b]: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1911231703 I didn't enjoy the extra chapter as much as the main game. The logic was a little more far-fetched, and it seems like an alternate history, as the way it plays out doesn't mesh up with primary storyline. It almost seems like it was written by a different author. [b]Verdict[/b]: I really enjoyed the campy humor, the fun variety of hidden object types and the different-but-believable makeshift solutions we need to come up with to progress. The Match-3 we can play instead of finding HO's is well-designed and a nice alternative. The gameplay is a little formulaic, but overall, this was a fun, mildly-spooky Halloween-themed treat.

I've played a lot of HoGs now, and bought this one thinking it'd probably be a just a cheap-and-cheerful bodged job, caching in heavily on the 'Halloween' theme to give it any merit whatsoever, But actually it ended up being one of the better HoGs I've played in quite a long time. The graphics, and voice acting were [i]way[/i] above expectations. The HoPs themselves were of the usual various types; a pretty comprehensive range. There's even one (two?) with the 'lizard + fire' type clue (you need to find a dragon) which to me are particularly interesting as you sometimes need to think a little laterally, rather than just find things. The puzzles weren't remarkable, but okay. But they all have an 'easy' or 'hard' setting, which can be changed per puzzle, dynamically as you like. First time I've ever seen that, and I hope everyone who ever makes another HoG follows suit! The story, as you'd expect, is full of more holes then Dracula's underpants on a sunny Summer's day. But it lurches along quite adequately, mostly minding its own business. Ignore my 'played' time; it was just running all day regardless of what else I was doing. Probably ~4-5hr with the bonus chapter, I'd guess. TLDR: A pleasant surprise, worth a look if you like this kind of game.

I would recommend this as I love the Halloween theme! The puzzles are a little challenging, and the graphics are nice. The biggest drawback I have with this is that it suffers from "Find the Same Item I Had Two Minutes Ago" syndrome. I found Flint and Steel at least three times, I fixed a broken lighter, and I found several other flames. Why did I get rid of the flint and steel - it lasts a LONG time? It's the same with sharp/cutting items. Throw it away, find another one ten minutes later. These aren't one use items! If finding similar items many times doesn't bother you, you might enjoy this. It uses some non-conventional items to break or open stuff. It has a great Halloween type motif throughout. Lots of jack-o-lanterns!

[h2] Evil Masks, Fears, and the Lord of Nightmares Himself! [/h2] I thought I’d take a little break from [i]Halloween Stories[/i] and move on to a different Halloween game series of the same type and genre. That would be the [i]Halloween Chronicles[/i] series, of which, sadly, there are only two games here on Steam. Though, they’re not bad choices. As the second game in the series, this one acts as a sequel to the first installment. In this one, our Uncle Oswald has invited us to his spooky shop for Halloween. Of course, everything is fake at said business. However, things go wrong as cursed masks turn our father, uncle, and mother into horrifying monsters. These monsters have only one mission: return the Lord of Nightmares to our world and bring about a new era of fears using Pandora’s Box. It is only up to us to stop the Boogeyman and save humanity. Are we up to the task? Something I love about this game is that there is more interactivity with the environment, unlike many other hidden object game series. For example, if you find bats in the environment, they will fly away. This level of interactivity adds more to the experience. In addition to this, the overall game felt very different compared to the Halloween Stories series. But I really liked how unique this one felt. The story was very compelling, the voice acting and graphics were stellar, and the puzzles/minigames and HO scenes weren’t too tricky but challenging enough. I liked the monster designs in this, too, especially how the Boogeyman was designed with his long, flowing black robes. The masks being cursed reminded me very much of The Haunted Mask from [i]Goosebumps[/i]; it's such a classic story! Like many other HO adventure games, achievements are included in this one. Some may be a little tricky to get, but thankfully, I was able to get them all in one go. There are also collectibles: figurines of mythical creatures, coins for buying items, and pages from the Book of Monsters listing several different creatures. Be on the lookout for them! Furthermore, a bonus chapter is also included that acts as a prequel to the main story. It's not a bad extra either; it's just as exciting and fun. All in all, it was a great, spooky experience that was perfect for this time of the year! [h1] 4 out of 5 ★★★★☆! [/h1]

Is this a silly plot? Just a bit. Is a well-designed game? Most definitely! Very fun, decent voice acting, good puzzles, and _stellar_ artwork! Also dripping in tons of halloween-y goodness!

Your uncle invites you to visit his magic shop. Before his call ends, though, weird things start happening. Upon arriving, you discover that your uncle has somehow gotten ahold of a trio of masks that are… very bad. One has already taken control of your father. Another takes control of your uncle. When all three have a new… host, they will be able to summon the Boogeyman. And if he succeeds at his task… let’s just say the world will be a much scarier place. HO scenes are challenging, minigames fun, and the plot is decent. Get in the bundle if you can.

good

HOG a little different, Halloween theme right up my alley.

Very solid Halloween game with great character voices and variety of monsters. Dracula with a lisp was very good along with chainsaw bigfoot and his monkey friend. I wish there was even more monster interactions because they were really great to come across. The Halloween themed HO scenes were very nice as well. Boogeyman seemed like a cool dude and the masks things going on made me think of the masks in Lethal Company. Looking forward to more in this series!

Grundsätzlich wie jedes andere Wimmelbild spiel aber nett gemacht und hübsche Grafik- außerdem manchmal schon etwas kniffliger als andere Spiele