The House of Da Vinci 2 9+

I simply adore puzzle games and discovering the room and house of da Vinci has been an absolute dream. The only disappointing thing about this was coming to the end! I am not one to normally pay for apps but this was well worth it and more. The gameplay was smooth and supported by a nice side story. I loved how you could almost look 360 in most rooms including the ceiling so you could just appreciate the surroundings and work that had gone into the game.

Admittedly, I did find some of the hints a bit ambiguous but was happy not to watch ads to get them! I like to give things a go first by myself and have time to think, as I’m sure others who like these sorts of games do, so much appreciated how hints were spaced out and didn’t reveal too much straight away but gradually gave you more and more info as and when you wanted it. Nowadays you can just find a walkthrough but it was nice to not have to disturb gameplay to get help.

You certainly get a big chunk of game time for your money. And graphically it's a triumph. However, whether through familiarity with the first game and The Room series, it can feel a bit plodding in stretches. Find item, put in slot, mechanical device whirs to reveal item, ad nauseam. And there are far too many parts where, rather than using brainpower, you are reduced to randomly jabbing around the darkened screen hoping it will zoom in to reveal a hidden area of interest. Good to occupy you for 10-12 hours at least - but whereas The Room felt ingenious and testing, this feels strung out and mechanical, often feeling more like trial and error than proper puzzle-solving. For all that, I'd still recommend it to completist fans of the genre - but oddly enough, condensing it and giving us less might have made it a more focused and enjoyable experience where the gameplay sparkled as much as the polished presentation. Voice acting was also a bit off, plot seemed to veer off to nowhere halfway through, with a limp non-ending, and Leonardo was annoyingly useless!

I enjoyed playing this game and felt the developers had worked hard to improve on HODV1. Navigation was easier, and I liked the depiction of the various rooms and the Cesare Borgia storyline - and also that it picked up the ending from HODV1, which had seemed disappointingly sudden. (This game also has a sudden ending, so I expect game 3 will continue the tale.)

My main criticism with game 1 was that often there didn’t seem to be a logical sequence to the clues, but while I had a few such problems early in this game, I thought that aspect was improved and that it got better as it went on.

A huge amount of time and effort has gone into making this game and it is very good value for money (I took 10.5 hours to complete it). Congratulations to the developers - I look forward to playing HODV3!