I’ve been playing these types of games for twelve years. I enjoy them very much. I rarely using skips or hints. I get bored easy when the game is more simply laid out, i.e. using all items found in 2 to 3 rooms before advancing forward in the game. This game catered to my experience and therefore what I enjoy most. Rooms were not complete, they were used through out the game. Items found were used throughout the game in an unpredictable way. The longer puzzles were my favorite, as they were solvable with some thought but not impossible. Needless to say, I was very pleasantly surprised with this game this morning. Bravo and thank you!!!!

This could have been a four star game, but there was a major flaw in the theatre puzzle in Thomas's secret room where there were three stages of arranging the cardboard puppet parts. The first part worked smoothly, then starting with the next scene, all of the contents were missing. There were no puppets or any items of scenery. I rebooted the iPad and tried again, including resetting the game, and it was worse. I checked the strategy, which I never do; and it clearly showed that I was completely missing all of the game components. Thankfully it was just a puzzle, and I was able to skip it and move on. Now I lost an achievement because I hardly ever skip any puzzles. The game was also glitchy as other reviewers said in which I had difficulty applying or collecting some inventory items. The game mechanics did not flow smoothly. The loading was very slow between scenes as well as moving from the map or diary back to the game, which was very annoying. Having said that, it was a fun game. It had awesome, innovative puzzle-board type games, somewhat similar to Mystery Case Files: Fates Carnival. The HOS were varied in type, and the items were easy to find. Inventory was labeled, and the map was a teleporting one with objectives. The game was too short though, even with the bonus. You are collecting monsters, morphing objects, and other collectible items relating to the story. There is also a secret room to discover after the bonus chapter. Overall, I did enjoy this game, but the glitches took away some excitement.

The developers seemed to want to add everything, including the kitchen sink, into this game. The problem is that they didn't add any logic. You open to scenes that are so big you have to use arrows to get to the right or left. Once you figure that out, you have no idea what you're looking for. They then add in a ridiculous painting game. And there's no skip button for the paintings. One had you finishing a drawing of an owl. You need the pencil, which it doesn't tell you, to make the lines. You have to hit each number twice! Once as a start point and once as an end point. STUPID! Oh, and when you go to get the pencil, it often closes the painting and you have to open it again, and again, and again! The game has way too many of these issues. The map is okay, but you have to click at the bottom right to switch to different maps. The hint often goes so fast you miss what it was indicating, including those stupid arrows to go left or right. Oh, and don't forget the morphing items, the collectables etc. if it had some logic to it, it could be a terrific game. BUT!! They can start to improve it by taking out the stupid painting game. This one won't end up in my collection. VERY disappointed because the graphics are beautiful! And, the game had promise. At least, add some skip buttons! Please!also, I just tried to reply it and I couldn't get items to get selected. I would click and click with nothing happening, then it would work, but now I had tapped it TOO much. Fix the damned thing!

This looked at the start to be a great game. I love this series...a little crazy, a little cutting edge, there's always a bit of drama with the Gray family stories. And always a few innovative touches. And yet...this one...dare I say that it was Too much too much. Dial down the drama, the scene movements, the evil, the amount of things to do and look for everywhere and maybe focus a little more on creating a story with a logical plot line so I don't have to use the map every time I find something. Yeesh. And all of that OTT-ness took me out of the story, so I almost became rather jaded with the monstrous plot.😱😳😲😖😁 (that's a time lapse of my emotions during this game)So --- 5 stars for graphics and cut scenes and innovation and voice overs and teleporting maps and good hits and all the things that are so so right. And 1 star for the devs just not knowing when to quit. In total -- 3 stars. Worth the $5? Not sure. I paid it before it got so darn tiring -- I had to take a break and I'm sure I'll go back, but I need to rest and get my mojo back before heading back into that world. Personal note: hi and hello to all my fellow reviewers. Got my lab scans back and the doc said "no evidence of active disease" so hopefully I'm on my way to remission and cancer is a thing of the past. Thanks so much for all your good wishes. xoxo