Hidden Object, where are you?

November 16, 2012 4:45 AM

Best Hidden Object/Point and Click games out there?

I'm looking for games which offer not only high quality content (picture-wise specifically, since my screen's resolution is extremely high and most games wound up looking blurry even in windowed mode) but more lengthy than only a couple few puzzles.

I've recently played through:

- Drawn: The Painted Tower
- Drawn 2: Dark Flight
- Drawn 3: Trail of Shadows
- Phantasmat
- Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden
- Shadow Wolf Mysteries: Cursed Wedding
- Unfinished Tales: Illicit Love

I don't mind Hidden Object scenes, but I tend to prefer games which focus on the whole point and click/puzzles more than those.

Thanks a lot in advance.

posted by Trexsock to Computers & Internet (12 answers total)

Syberia and Syberia II. Pure point and click puzzles, no hidden objects, but AMAZING.

For the Hidden Object land, I have been playing the Dark Parables series with my daughter, but it seems they would be fun for adults who were into it as well.
posted by corb at 5:15 AM on November 16, 2012

Seconding the Syberia games. Obviously the Myst games are worth considering too.

I enjoyed the Dream Chronicles games, although they weren't as lengthy as I'd have liked.
The Mystery Case Files series are consistently good. I remember enjoying the PuppetShow and Echoes of the Past games too.
posted by pipeski at 5:25 AM on November 16, 2012

How could I forget The Dream Machine, and the various games by Amanita?
posted by pipeski at 5:29 AM on November 16, 2012

Ooooooh, Submachine. Not sure about the blurry bit (I don't have a particularly high-res screen), but it's an absolutely addictive series of point and click games. Start at Submachine 1: The Basement. The series currently goes to 8 with some additional side games. Each game has a different focus -- all involve puzzles, some have more or less finding objects, etc.
posted by pie ninja at 5:59 AM on November 16, 2012

I liked Azada, though the individual puzzles weren't too difficult for the most part. Azada 2, however, made me feel like I was some kind of super-moron.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:49 AM on November 16, 2012

Mystery Case Files series are the best ones I've played. Early ones are more hidden object oriented, while the newer ones incorporate more puzzles and point and click solving elements. The Ravenhearst subseries.
posted by yellowbinder at 7:36 AM on November 16, 2012

Yeah, definitely Amanita games, particularly Machinarium which is beautiful, clever and has a great soundtrack. Artwork in the form of a game.
posted by SampleSize at 8:19 AM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I don't know if they exactly meet the definition of "hidden object", but there's a whole world of point-and-click puzzling in the escape game genre. Mofuya. Tesshi-e. Terminal House. Hottategoya (Formerly known as The Shanty of Escape Games). Cogito Ergo Sum.

Don't be turned off by the language barrier - all of these either have English versions linked to them or don't require a knowledge of Japanese to play.
posted by koucha at 8:34 AM on November 16, 2012

Thirding the Amanita games--the Samorost games are no less wonderful than Machinarium. Windosill is also pretty neat--I believe only the first half is available to play for free, but the second half is well worth the few bucks they want for it.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 9:12 AM on November 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

These are all games I have personally played and enjoyed and like you I don't mind some Hidden Object but I prefer a larger story quest and puzzles. My monitor is only 1440 x 900, but these weren't blurry at all, but of course if your monitor is a lot larger ymmv. Most of the games have settings that let you turn off the widescreen stretching that causes a lot of blurriness on games such as these though, so you might want to try that. You'll have to deal with black bars on either side of the game in fullscreen, but the scenes themselves will be less blurry.

Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull
Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove

Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat

Sacra Terra: Angelic Night

Nightmare Realm

Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles

Echoes of the Past: The Castle of Shadows
Echoes of the Past: The Revenge of the Witch
Echoes of the Past: The Citadels of Time

Haunted Legends: The Queen of Spades

Maestro: Music of Death
Maestro: Notes of Life

Mystery Trackers: The Void
Mystery Trackers: Raincliff
Mystery Trackers: Black Isle

Snark Busters
Snark Busters: All Revved Up

Twisted Lands: Shadow Town
Twisted Lands: Insomniac

Voodoo Whisperer: Curse of a Legend

If you want to lose the Hidden Objects scenes altogether and go for something that's purely point and click adventure, I highly recommend The Lost Crown. It's amazing. Beautiful, creepy, engrossing. Unfortunately it's only available by ordering a physical DVD rather than a digital download, but it's really so worth it. Probably one of the best point and click adventures I've ever played. It's definitely kind of closer to a real PC game than the "casual" games in the list above, but it's an adventure, not a point and shooter or a survival game so you can't "die" or anything.
posted by katyggls at 12:17 PM on November 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

4, 5, and 6 Differences are beautiful and challenging, if a bit minimalist. (prev.)
posted by Rhaomi at 9:00 AM on November 17, 2012

The Room is lovely, though it is not a story and it is a little short.
The visual is amazing.
posted by SLC Mom at 5:56 PM on December 23, 2012 [1 favorite]