9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek for iPad Review

9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek

G5 Entertainment and Artifex Mundi has a great recent track-record of hidden object puzzle adventure games, and they continue with the release of 9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek for iPad and iPhone. The game tells the story of a reporter lost in a mysterious town in the 1950s and the friend who investigates!

Type of app: Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure

Platform/where to buy: iPad (iPhone version here); available in the iTunes App Store

Developer: Artifex Mundi / G5 Entertainment

Description:
Here are some of the features:
53 eerie locations
13 clever puzzles and mini-games
Six strange characters
19 achievements to unlock
Thrilling story set in 1950s America
Game Center Support
New iPad Retina Display Support

Major features:
9 Clues is another excellent hidden object puzzle adventure game, featuring an interesting story where the main character’s friend has disappears after heading to the coastal town of Serpent Creek to cover the annual Serpent Festival. You were on the receiving end of her lost phone call, which was full of frightening paranormal discoveries.

The story involves hunting for your friend Helen and her cameraman, and also getting to the bottom of the strange mystery that shrouds the town – as well as the serpent creature you see all around!

To work through the story you need to follow a trail of clues – this involves moving from place to place, searching for items, doing hidden object scenes, completing puzzles, combining items and pretty much every standard genre puzzle type.

One thing that is different, in ‘scene of the crime’ areas you need to see what happened, and to do this you are tasked with finding the hidden clues, then piecing together the timeline to review. It is a fun and different game mechanic and made you feel more involved with the solution.

Ease of use/Overall performance: One thing I like about this games is that while it does nothing that is really new, it does everything well. The graphics look great, touchscreen controls are precise and responsive, puzzles are well thought out and never feel like time-wasters, and so on.

Would use again/recommend?: Absolutely! I enjoyed the story as well as the puzzles – and was annoyed that I came ONE achievement short of getting the ‘all achievements’ achievement! What that told me was I was fully engaged – there is nothing ‘new’ here, yet I found the game fun, exciting and interesting throughout.

Suggested changes/wish list for updates: Nothing.

Price: Free download with in-app purchase of full version for $6.99 for iPad ($4.99 for iPhone, on sale through January 17th for $4.99 iPad / $2.99 iPhone)

Here is the trailer: