[b]Note:[/b] An awesome friend gifted me a copy of this game. ^^
[i]Magic of Runes: Hidden Object Game[/i] is - as you probably guessed lol - a hidden object game (well, there's more to it than that, but I don't want to jump ahead :o) developed and published by Crisp App Studio. You take on the role of Detective Greystone, and you find yourself in Enchanted Crossroads, a fantasy town that's full of elves, wizards, and magical creatures. A major mystery is afoot in which the four runes of the world are not balanced, and it's up to Detective Greystone to solve this problem. That's the basic story synopsis, so I'll stop here. XD
Regarding the gameplay, it is meant to be played as a hidden object game, which means finding the objects listed. However, you can choose to play other modes, such as spot-the-differences and completing jigsaw puzzles. (For review purposes, I chose to play this game as it was probably intended, finding the various objects and such.) There is only one difficulty setting, but there are a couple of hint options, like an automatic object finder and an object preview. After you play through the level once, you can choose to replay it as many times as you want, and this is necessary if you want to earn the maximum number of five stars. You can obtain various objects by replaying levels, completing them under 45 seconds, etc., although these objects are only for cosmetic purposes. 16 total levels are present, and of course, you can earn Steam achievements although they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. I've played a few HOGs by Crisp App Studio, even having reviewed a few for my curation (the link to which you'll see at the end of this review ^^). It has been a while since the dev put out a new game, and as it appealed to me because of the whole fantasy setting with investigative elements, I wanted to have a chance to try it out. Thankfully, a wonderful friend gifted me a copy, so I had the chance to play it and share my thoughts. First, the story is pretty simple, but I like it. You play as a detective, one of my all-time favorite character types, but you're in a fantasy world, investigating the mystery of the runes. There is some story going on, as Detective Greystone meets various characters and learns more about what happened. Of course, the problem ends up resolved even though it leaves off on a cliffhanger. (Clearly, the devs are hoping to make future games in the series, which I wouldn't mind. XD)
With the gameplay, I like that you can choose which mode to play. Of course, you can choose the traditional HOG route, but you can also opt to play it as spot-the-differences or assembling jigsaw puzzles. Although I admit that I might have chosen to play it as jigsaw puzzles, in the end, I wanted to play this game as it was, most likely, intended. Anyway, I encountered no technical issues, and the hint system worked well. If you choose to use the one where it automatically finds an object for you, then you only have to wait a few seconds before you can use it again. This is a major improvement from the previous games by the dev (or perhaps, this change was already present, but I have yet to play those games lol). There is a meter in which the faster you find the objects, the more your total score is multiplied, which counts towards getting those five stars. In other words, the faster and more accurate you are, the higher your score. Of course, you can choose to play the game at your own pace and still get the maximum five stars. It just might take a little longer.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3299035281
As usual, a few Steam achievements are present, and I was able to obtain all of them fairly easily. The only issue I had is that even though windowed mode is present, upon launching the game, it would revert to full screen mode, so I had to continually click on the option for windowed mode. It shouldn't be that difficult for the game to remember that you want to play in windowed mode, in my opinion. :o
Moving onto the art, I liked the style that is used. The story takes place in a fantasy setting, so the backgrounds and sprites reflect that. They're drawn and colored well, feeling like you're really in that world and in Detective Greystone's shoes, so to speak. XD In regards to the music, the tracks are lovely to listen to. They have that fantasy setting feeling to them and are relaxing to listen to as you're playing through the levels. No voice acting is present, but that's usually the case for these games by the developer.
Overall, would I recommend [i]Magic of Runes: Hidden Object Game[/i]? If you're a fan of hidden object games, want a quick game to complete, and especially, enjoy the ones by Crisp App Studio, then I think this is worth checking out. It's a shame that this game has gone under the radar, especially because it has been a while since the developer last released a game. With that said, it is on the short side, as it took me around 1.5 hours to complete, but you can always wait for a sale. ^^
[quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]
