better than expected – Haunted Manor: Painted Beauties HD - A Hidden Objects Mystery Review

Overall I was pretty happy with this game, and I haven't been happy with a BF game in a while, so that's saying a lot. The puzzles were varied and along with the HO's were challenging enough without being impossible; the artwork was great; there were a few surprises in the storyline and the main game is pretty long with a lot of scenes. I found the map pretty helpful once I figured out that the pictures in color are the ones with active objectives. (there's no legend for the map) I also liked that the map only showed you places where you could actually do something right now, not just places where you have to do something eventually. What I didn't like: 1) The morphing objects: they don't so much morph as phase in and out, very slowly, and you can't tap on them when they've phased out. Some of them are really, REALLY small insignificant looking things (like a tiny pinecone on a tree full of pinecones) and it didn't seem like every scene had a morphing object, so you could sit for a long time just staring at a scene trying to figure out if some tiny detail was a morphing object. Given how many scenes there are that you go back and forth to, it would have been really helpful if the map indicated where morphing objects still were undiscovered. 2) some of the puzzles (like playing the organ) didn't have a good interface, and didn't register taps, but if you tap too much it registers that as a wrong answer. 3) the bonus chapter was silly, with no real story to it, and way too short. Still, I found it more challenging and engaging than any game I've played in a while, and I was pleasantly surprised. Oh, and the hint worked for me the whole time, there were no crashes and while the final scene of the bonus chapter froze up the first time, I restarted the app and it worked fine.
Review by AriadneArona on Haunted Manor: Painted Beauties HD - A Hidden Objects Mystery.