Adventure Escape: Midnight Carnival Mystery Story 9+

I love escape the room & puzzle games and I really really enjoyed this game!! It was so good that I didn't want to put it down, but luckily it was divided into levels, so it was easier to pause and continue the next night. It has nice graphics and a simple but interesting story line. What I really enjoyed was the challenging puzzles and complex tasks. While some of the other reviews said that it was not intuitive enough, that is what I enjoyed most. If the first solution I thought of didn't work, I would go back through everything and look deeper into the clues. I was able to make it through and only had to use the hints 4 times, so I had plenty. One suggestion, a few of the tools could be a little more obvious, like the clothespin and tongs. Also, I did need a piece of scratch paper for 2 of the puzzles. If you are looking for a challenge this is for you!

I've played all the escape games from Haiku, and I've also played tons of other escape games. Haiku still is the very best, but this recent Midnight Carnival is very frustrating in places. It almost seems like the game designers are trying to "out cute" each other, and it doesn't work. For example: The balloon game seems self explanatory. Put the 5 balloons in order by color. I tried every possible combination, and nothing worked. So, I began using clues to find out what I was doing wrong. I bought ALL the clues available, and it didn't help. I couldn't even buy my way out, because the solution regenerates. The clues seemed to clearly say that all 5 colors had to be used, but not the case! That really upset me. Now I'm stuck trying to unlock a drawer with flags and clocks as clues. I figured it out fairly easily, thinking how neat a design it was, but NOOOOO! The order of letters which SHOULD work, does not work. Trying too hard...but still the very best escape games I've found. They will be leaving a great LEGACY!
Another thing that I enjoy is the story which accompanies the game. They are pretty well thought out, which I cannot say for other games!

Intriguing atmosphere, not really bizarre or scary, but well crafted. Game play and UI seem to work pretty well through first two chapters. Music loops pretty quickly but the gnawing repetition works with the sort of weirdly disconcerting carnival / witchy feel. Additional sounds effects could have added considerably more to the odd and spooky ambience with another few hours of effort. The graphics are the strength of this game, even if they are 2D, they are moody, colorful and fairly well done, although animation is minimal and a bit crude. The puzzles are not particularly difficult, especially if you are observant and use the clues. Story line is diluted with dialogue that infuses some weak romantic chemistry and humor aimed at adolescents. Character development is similar to a comic strip, but that is fairly standard for this genre. All in all, the game has entertainment value that will satisfy casual players who enjoy escape / hidden object games. But it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and you shouldn’t either. Given it’s free, we really shouldn’t expect much more. Thanks for your efforts!