Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate - Puzzle Carnival

The most anticipated game of the year, and the fourth installment of glorious Mystery Case Files game series is finally here.

Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate invites you to plunge yourself into the tricky world of hidden object carnival and sleuth for truth to save Madame Fate's life.

In a nutshell - you are about to play a terrific sequel of MCF game series that features state-of-art graphics, amazing sound and precious developer irony - in regards to the game characters and us, the players.

I won't be taking much of your time with a lengthy review, just will give you the most important information about the game.

Overview: Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate combines hidden object gameplay with word games and numerous mind-benders sort of what we were playing at puzzle rooms of Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst . MCF: Madame Fate can be played in time-limited mode and the mode that features extended time.

You are to investigate 15 episodes as you sleuth for the whereabouts of each of 15 carnival employees suspected in the intended murder..

Game story: Madame Fate, the owner of carnival and a fortunetelling pro, has foreseen her coming demise. In her crystal ball, she saw herself killed by someone of her employees. So, you are to carefully sleuth the whereabouts of each of circus employees to trace the murderer and stop him/her.

Game characters: Madame Fate is not a very nice person. Just a traditional moody fortune-teller. But her employees represent the most notorious carnival types you could ever see in real life: an unfortunate magician, an ambitious bearded beauty, a sulky carny, and a fishy mermaid etc. Altogether there are 15 of them, and each has their own motives to get rid of Madame Fate.

As stated above, the gameplay of Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate blends hidden object levels, word puzzles and mixed puzzles.

Gameplay. In the very beginning of each episode, you'll be offered to solve a word puzzle (sort of starter to tempt your appetite for a more substantial puzzle treat). Word games in each episode may vary from classic scrabble and to the unthinkable table of letters.

Once you are done with the puzzle, you will get inside the room of the current suspect. And you'll be offered to solve a hidden object puzzle. This time you'll be asked to find a dozen objects of the same kind (lightening bolts, moons, razors, stars etc.) But it might turn out to not as easy as you expect it to be, since most objects are tiny and are of the same color as the background.

As you get to the game map, you'll see that each episode will have you sleuthing for the hidden clues in several locations of the carnival. If a location contains so called "mysterious changing object" - an object on the screen that flashes and changes - the location will be marked with a question mark. Find the mysterious object - and you'll be rewarded with an extra hint.

Some of the locations may contain one more secret location inside.

Aside from a number of usual clues to find, secret location feature tricky clues.

In order to get them, you'll need to perform several actions(link chain out of broken pieces to find "repaired chain", make a puzzle out of pieces to get "puzzle" etc.)

Hint system has become more complicated in the last version of Mystery Case Files. When you ask for a hint, you are only shown a radius where to sleuth for the hint. The circle is rather large and occupies about a quarter of the playing field. So, use the hints when you feel completely at a loss.

In general, Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate features the tricky hidden object game play that no other I Spy puzzle can boast.

The game has truly carnival look and feel: bizarre scenes, quirky characters, and even the carnival hubbab(voices of carnies, melody of the merry-go-round, roar of the three-headed beast and finally, the voice of Madame Fate that follows your every step).

Thanks to it all, you find yourself rambling between the attractions of Madame Fate's carnival just like you did as a child. Hats off to Big fish games.