Pros: Captivating story. Diverse mini-games. Challenging puzzles. Voice dialogue.
Cons: Illogical tasks. One game mode. Too easy at the start.
I don’t know whether the developers of Dream Sleuth game were inspired by Other People’s Dreams by John Irving, but the story is similar to the book. In any case, you play a part in the thrilling adventure by putting your investigative skills to use to solve a mysterious kidnapping.
In Dream Sleuth you step into the role of Catherine, a young and smart girl who came to town to celebrate her grandmother’s 75th birthday. Since the first night in grandma house, she had strange dreams about Lisa Fremont, a girl that went missing not long ago. Being the granddaughter of a former outstanding investigative reporter, Catherine decides to solve the case by taking it in her own hands. Asking around about the case, Catherine discovers useless facts while the more important clues come from her dreams.
Dream Sleuth primarily comes as a seek-and-find adventure with many tasks and puzzles. During the investigation, you’ll need to find the themed items (letters or the same-colored folders, for example) and remove the pairs of objects. In other levels, you’ll search for the objects by their outlineor simply find one thing like Grandma’s card organizer. Dream Sleuth also features "find the differences."
Unlike many hidden object games, puzzles steal the show in Dream Sleuth. The developers did a great job with their diverse and impressive mini-games. The game tests not only your observation skills, but also your ability to use logic, wit and knowledge. One enjoyable task called for moving the lines of the fable “The Fox and the Crow” to put them in the right order. Like Mushroom Age in the funny scene where you massage Socrates, you’ll have to repeat the game's moves in playing the piano.
Dream Sleuth has no time limit, so take your time in solving the mystery and enjoying the process. Unlimited hints are available in the hidden object game when fully charged, but you're on your own with puzzles and can't skip them. Your choices are to play through, find help online or quit the game.
Another shortcoming in the game is that it's too easy in the beginning. Some tasks make no sense. Furthermore, there's no quick access button to “skip dialogue.” Instead, you have to navigate back to the “main menu” and skip it there or else let the conversations play out.
You can listen to the characters converse if you prefer to relax and listen instead of read. Most of the sounds are calm and don't annoy while the graphics use a photo-realistic style. The characters appers as cutout photos with moving mouths as they speak, like in Christmasville.
Obviously, Dream Sleuth features a catchy story and lots of exciting levels in 18 chapters with plenty of tricky puzzles. Lisa’s freedom and well-being depends on you! Download Dream Sleuth game to start your nighttime investigation!
