...For three bucks. Nice mix of puzzles. Grand graphics. Excellent voice talent. I sat through the credits twice to note who did the translations—well done, Natalia & Olga! (I can only recall one instance that gave away Russian roots: "Here is hotel" should have been "There is the hotel".) I often play without sound, but the music in this game definitely enhanced the mood, especially the haunting lullaby. The words are a traditional folk song ("Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Daddy's gonna buy you a mockingbird"), but the tune was unfamiliar. Minor key, very spooky. Maybe I should review the credits again to look for the composer. I appreciate the interactive map, the hints, and the strategy guide. I, too, got stuck on the blasted doorknob; the guide just said pick up the pieces. Apparently it matters what order you pick them up. I deleted and reinstalled (overlooked the reset option—might have been quicker), and it worked fine when I picked up the pieces in the specified order. Came right back to game from guide, too. The usual lapses in logic include using a vacuum cleaner by a well on the edge of a cliff. Really? While we're on the subject, why do items disappear from inventory so fast? Could use that sharp edge again, but no. Gotta search for a new one. I know, I know, that's just the convention for this type of game. Grump, grump. I'm conflicted about the collectibles. I missed some, and even though there is bonus play there is no opportunity to go back and look some more. Guess you have to start over from scratch. Not sure I care enough for that. In other BF games, bonus play lets you pick up on goodies missed the first time around in all the HOS, and maybe play against the clock for better scores. Here you get one short bonus chapter and three puzzles. No talking animals. No rats. One cute mouse in a HOS, but you don't have to touch it. And best of all, despite the title [SPOILER ALERT] ...... no actual ghosts! Or fairies, or witches, or vampires, or trolls, or any supernatural creatures. Thank you!

Haunted Hotel: Death Sentence seems like another superior game by Elephant Games. I jumped at the chance to purchase it at such a low price! You are a detective searching to see if your other detective buddy, James, is still alive after searching the Haunted Hotel. The mood is suitably creepy, with mood music and dark, eerie rooms to explore. As in most Elephant Games, you are given a good Hint and Skip button, and a super Teleporting Map function. The puzzles have so far been mainly mechanical in nature, such as build the movie projector from the diagram. I am glad that there are Collectibles to gather in each scene, such as decorative glassware. You also are collecting Miniature Characters of each person in the game. Love that aspect, which adds some interest to the game. The Hidden Object puzzles so far have mostly been routine, including one where you use shadow shapes to open doors with other objects. It has been so much fun thus far that it is 2 a.m., and I cannot stop playing! Buy this while you have a chance, and enjoy yourself!

This game appeared to be very well done - the story pulls you in right from the start, the voice of the character you play is very soothing, but the Difficulty is bugged. I can't play with sparkles.. I like to find the answers on my own, and past that, I find them distracting. If you don't mind the sparkles, it appears to be a great game. There is a custom mode, and I turned all of the sparkle indicators off, but things still sparkled.. I tried to change it to Advanced but even though it was listed as an option, when you try and select it, nothing happens (like it wasn't programmed as a button). If the devs ever fix this, I would love to give it another shot, but til then, I am on the hunt for a new game.

A lot of these big fish games use hidden objects to get more clues but sometimes they overuse it. In this game, they used a lot of clever mini-puzzles that were actually challenging and required logic and ingenuity to figure out. The graphics were outstanding and the hints were just enough to get you looking in the right place without giving too much away. The objects in the inventory were detailed enough to know what they were and all of the puzzles made sense, which is not always the case. Best game I've played in a long time.