When a New York City book critic is murdered, dressed up to look like Frankenstein's monster, and hooked up to an electrical current, it's time to call the one detective who actually prefers the really weird cases: Kate Beckett. If she brings her "consultant," a mystery writer named Richard Castle, along with her, so much the better. Such is the premise of Castle: Never Judge A Book By Its Cover, a tie-in hidden object game that was written as a companion to the television show Castle. It appeals to more than just fans of the show, though, and blends hidden object scenes and puzzles seamlessly. Can you find the Hardcover Killer before it's too late?

Your stepfather has taken care of you ever since he found you by the side of the road when you were a baby, training you to follow in his footsteps as a doctor. But when he goes missing, you discover there might have been far more to him, and your legacy, than you ever imagined in this creepy hidden-object adventure.

There's a killer on the loose in Lumineux, and his prey is the city's officials... but is he a bloodthirsty monster, or a bringer of justice? And even then, who's really in the wrong? It's up to you to decide in Dark Tales: Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque of the Red Death, a new hidden object adventure from ERS Game Studios.

Vera and Arthur are twins who both grew up in and eventually left the small, secluded town of Pilgrim's Hook. But while Vera was glad to leave it behind, Arthur couldn't help but be drawn back, and a desperate phone call brings Vera running to save him... and straight into a trap where she'll become a pawn in an ancient war between powerful magical forces. A captivating and original hidden-object adventure with just the right bit of creepiness!

When your coworker goes missing after attending a movie showing at a cinema that's supposed to have been shut down for years, probing deeper uncovers a supernatural plot by a malicious entity that promises everything to the creative souls yearning for success even as it exacts a terrible price. An extremely short, though absolutely gorgeous and engaging hidden-object adventure well worth a look.

On his 25th birthday, Daniel receives a note from his parents saying that he is in grave danger and asking him to sail to a mysterious Island. Once there, he discovers its secret - pieces of fallen meteorite give him powers over the elements. Through a series of quests and puzzles, Daniel must prove himself worthy to the stern monks of the island's magical orders and maybe even save the world in the process. Phenomenon: Meteorite is a remarkably beautiful hidden-object adventure which takes you gently by the hand and leads you into an enchanting world where anything is possible.

On his 25th birthday, Daniel receives a note from his parents saying that he is in grave danger and asking him to sail to a mysterious Island. Once there, he discovers its secret - pieces of fallen meteorite give him powers over the elements. Through a series of quests and puzzles, Daniel must prove himself worthy to the stern monks of the island's magical orders and maybe even save the world in the process. Phenomenon: Meteorite is a remarkably beautiful hidden-object adventure which takes you gently by the hand and leads you into an enchanting world where anything is possible.

When her father, a renowned puppet master, goes missing and she has nobody else to turn to, a young girl begs you for your help in finding them... so why does she suddenly seem bent on stopping you whenever you see her? And what's up with all the tricks, mechanisms, and, uh, malicious spider-head puppets in this town anyway? A hidden-object adventure that doesn't particularly innovate, but delivers one of the most highly-polished and enjoyable experiences in a long time.

When a new initiate into a secret order betrays them almost immediately, one young woman must rush to save the world. Great care has gone into the design of this gem of an adventure game and it shows everywhere in the details. For an exciting adventure hybrid sprinkled with some pretty tight puzzles The Secret Order: Masked Intent is definitely the way to go.

Young women have been disappearing off the streets of Paris, only to reappear dead of bizarre dehydration. It's enough to bring you, a renowned detective, out of retirement in a race against time to save a girl from a madman in this gorgeous and engrossing hidden-object adventure where you'll also need to catch and mix various scents to create perfumes and solvents.

Azada: Elementa is an entertaining addition to both the Azada series and the adventure hybrid ouevre. Pretty to look at and with a great depth of gameplay (especially in the puzzles), you are looking at hours of entertainment for the whole family.

When her husband is stabbed and blown up (a bit of an overreaction no matter what your motives), Gabriela Sanchez calls you, a well-known psychic detective, to solve the case. Together with your useless assistant Aidan and much less useless tag-a-long fennec fox, you'll discover a plot of lies, passion, revenge, and jealousy in this short but well-balanced hidden-object adventure from ERS Game Studios.

Explore one of the world's greatest architectural wonders while solving a kidnapping and helping a modern day Quasimodo and Esmeralda in Play Favorite Games' stunning sequel to 9: The Dark Side.

The good, kindly Elven Queen Isandra has been possessed by the Phoenix Spirit, a coldhearted, conceited mystical spirit who wants to purify the land by burning it all to ashes. You are the Destined One and, using your Skybird magic, must stop the Phoenix Queen's wrath before all is destroyed in this fantasy epic story/hidden object adventure game. Explore intricately detailed scenes and find fragments of ornate objects, complete quests given to you by Enchantia's Human, Elven and Dwarven inhabitants, and feast your eyes in this remarkable adventure from the creators of the Dark Parables series.

You can't buy love, and you probably shouldn't try. When the book of love spells Tiffany buys as a joke turns out to contain a ritual for summoning one very nasty succubus who steals away her boyfriend, Tiffany has no option but to track down the book's origin. But Sacra Terra Island has more than a few secrets, and you'll have to save more than just Mark's soul in this stunning, captivating hidden-object adventure that's heavy on style and cinematic flair.

When a masked organ grinder begins handing out deadly fortunes to the townsfolk, it seems like a lucky coincidence that a detective of your caliber was already on hand. But do the strangely poetic fates of certain people at the hands of fantastical creatures somehow tie in with your own investigation into an old crime? Elephant Games delivers a gorgeous and engaging hidden-object adventure with style and creativity. And baby phoenixes!

With the dead roaming the streets and the living mysteriously aging to dust right before everyone's eyes, this town already has its share of problems, and it all seems to go back to the disappearance of two students from its celebrated musical academy. In this gorgeous and engrossing adventure from ERS Game Studios, you'll have to master life and death itself through music to thwart a plan from beyond the veil and uncover the mysteries and bitterness at its core.

What is the most romantic, and at the same time, most tragic story in Western literature? No doubt about it, the answer is the story of Romeo and Juliet which, since it was first staged in the 16th century, has spawned countless adaptations in theaters, movies, television, ballet, operas, and now casual games. Despite the ominous sounding title, Death Pages: Ghost Library, the latest adventure hybrid from Elephant Games, is less about ghosts and death and more about living vicariously through one of William Shakespeare's most well known works.

The ski trip of your dreams to the Alps turns into a freezing nightmare when an avalanche strands you cold and lonely, far from civilization and help. A remote ski resort seems like your best chance for rescue, but it quickly becomes clear that there's something strange about the residents, and they might not have your best interests at heart. ERS Game Studio takes the reins for this spiritual sequel to the original hidden-object adventure.

Feel like an inexpensive trip to Austria? Maybe you're craving a tragic mystery that needs unraveling? Boomzap has returned with a new installment in the hidden object puzzle mystery adventure Dana Knightstone series: Death Upon an Austrian Sonata: A Dana Knightstone Novel! With a sprinkling of romance gone wrong thrown in, this is already shaping up to be a great romp into the European countryside.

The foggy town of Bitterford, Maine, has been deserted for decades after a devastating earthquake, and rumours of hauntings makes it the perfect location to film a little low-budget ghost hunting. But when the show's psychic consultant calls you in to help, you find the rest of the team wants nothing to do with it, and discover that the secrets held in quiet Bitterford may be more ancient, and more deadly, than you're prepared for. A hidden-object adventure packed with top-notch production values, scares aplenty, and Cassandra. Lots and lots of Cassandra. *sigh*

Heart pounding, your raspy breath echoes in your ears amidst the sound of alarms and the inevitable ticking of a countdown clock. Swiftly you run to the nearest escape pod as time quickly slips away. Heels clatter amongst the throbbing of your heart and the wailing of the alarm as you dive into a handy escape pod and fly away from the mother-ship seconds before detonation. What is going on? The scene shifts to 24 hours earlier...That thrilling opening sequence belongs to the latest adventure hybrid from Alawar Games, Forbidden Secrets: Alien Town, and it's just the beginning of a rollicking good ride through a pastiche of nearly every sci-fi and horror cliche of the past 50 years.

A spontaneous decision to rent a room in a stately old manor in the country takes a turn for the bizarre when you witness a girl abducted by a giant monkey before your very eyes and soon discover you're locked inside. With the help of a holographic cat, it's up to you to discover why the previous tenants at 13 Darwin Lane have quite literally lost their heads (and avoid losing their own) in this sublimely strange adventure from ERS Game Studios.

Step into the unknown to adventure in a secret world of unusual flora and fauna. Here, you follow in the footsteps of your father, "The Crazy Dr. Wright," while helping a village which is struggling against its oppressive queen and joining forces with Ian, a scientist who is also trapped in this strange land along with you. Throughout your adventure, you'll enjoy an extremely diverse assortment of minigames and fresh twists on hidden object scenes that will make you rethink the genre. As multifarious as the unusual flora and fauna of its verdant environment, Botanica: Into the Unknown is fresh and full of new discoveries.

Search through the mirrored dimension, where the ordinary world is twisted and unsettling, on a quest to stop a romantic tragedy from unleashing an evil pact. During your adventure through a surreal realm, you'll encounter an intriguing assortment of strange sights as well as plenty of interactive hidden object scenes and puzzles until you reach the final confrontation with an ancient evil power. Will you discover the secrets of the dark carnival?

The continuing horrors from the casual adventure developer ERS Game Studios have returned, and this time it's more horrorey than ever. Haunted Halls: Revenge of Doctor Blackmore is the third game in the Haunted Halls series, picking up where the previous games left off and not stopping to let you gather your wits. It's a psychologically intense game for a point and click puzzle adventure, but it's carried out with the usual grace and flair we've come to expect from ERS. Ready to descend into madness again?

In this fourth installment of Blue Tea Games' darkly dramatic adventure hybrid series, you join a band of femme fatales, once victims in other fairytales, to fight against a power-warped villainess and her plague of mist wolves. Fragmented object search scenes, side quests for cursed items, and a nice offering of gently-challenging puzzles add to your immersion in this action-filled, and oft times violent, adventure.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a princess named Sophia who was having a horrible, very bad, not good day. Poor Princess Sophia woke up in an abandoned castle to discover that (a) she'd overslept by about 100 years, (b) all the humans including her family had booked for places unknown, and (c) there was no local wi-fi. Being the intrepid Princess that she is, Sophia immediately set out to find the rest of humanity along with a decent half-caf mocha latte. Yes, our favorite non-magical princess is back in Awakening: The Skyward Castle, the fourth and final installment of Boomzap's popular adventure hybrid Awakening series.

When a lawyer goes missing while handling the inheritance for a young man following his uncle's mysterious death, you're called in to look into the matter. Unfortunately, this case is a bit more complicated than that, since the local townsfolk have been going missing and believe it to be the work of a vengeful spirit who has been murdering all the men in the Williams family for decades. Can you get to the truth buried beneath all the skeletons in this family's closet? Or will this hidden-object adventure be the death of you?

Just when you thought secret societies were a thing of the past (literally, ha!), World-Loom brings them back to you in full force in their hidden-object/adventure hybrid, Dark Heritage: Guardians of Hope. With some unique visuals and a good puzzle-to-hidden-object-scene ratio, Dark Heritage will have you feeling like Tom Hanks as you chase down a mysterious killer. You know, if Tom Hanks were a woman.

The Flux Family Secrets series started back in 2009 with Flux Family Secrets: The Ripple Effect, followed by Flux Family Secrets: The Rabbit Hole just over a year later. Now, after a longer than usual wait, the third game in the series has arrived: Flux Family Secrets: The Book of Oracles. Skunk Studios has produced an equally high caliber game with Flux number three, continuing the story precisely where it left off and telling a hidden object-laden tale with a side of lush visuals.

There's a murder on the prowl in the Italian countryside. When the maid of a wealthy family finds a notebook that appears to detail the gruesome murder of three young women, she turns to you, a local detective, in fear. But when you arrive on the scene it soon becomes abundantly clear that someone doesn't appreciate you trying to solve the case, and you'll have to keep your wits about you to survive to the end in this cheesy but beautifully packaged hidden-object adventure mystery from ERS Game Studio.

One of the main tropes present in hidden object hybrids these days is that someone gets kidnapped by mysterious forces and you must rescue them, be it a prince, a princess, children, a whole town, or some random guy off the street. However, Fierce Tales: The Dog's Heart by Blam! Games goes in a completely different direction. You see, your cute little puppy is kidnapped by mysterious forces, and you must rescue him before it's too late. It may not reinvent the hidden object wheel, but it's still a pretty darned good adventure waiting to be played!

Offering up something unique and creative, this point-and-click puzzle adventure follows a young shepherd and his pet goat on their quest to rescue his stolen flock. The gorgeous watercolor artwork and nearly wordless narration makes this a poignant, meditative experience. While a few rough edges might repel those who are not as charmed by the artistic qualities, those looking for challenging puzzles and fragmented object searches set in a surreal landscape will be instantly won over. Which group are you in? Give Shaban a demo to find out.

ERS makes their first foray into pure adventure gameplay with this shlocky, over-the-top horror game. When the little girl you're supposed to be babysitting vanishes, you find yourself drawn into a murder mystery that's corrupted an entire area and left the place teeming with vicious ghosts and secrets. More kooky and creative than scary, it's still a polished game with loads of puzzles and creepiness worth checking out.

Of all of the creepy fairy tales we tell our kids — and there are some supremely creepy ones indeed — one that stands out is the Pied Piper of Hamelin, in which a town that doesn't like to pay its debts ends up losing all of its children to a dude who charms rats with music. This haunting tale seems ready made to become both a childhood nightmare and a casual adventure hybrid, so it's just as well that Blue Tea Games has taken up the challenge with Fabled Legends: The Dark Piper, a hidden object finding adventure that features lots and lots of rats, both in vermin and human form. Rats, why'd it have to be rats?

ERS Game Studios has decided to add more to the fairy tale story of their Spirits of Mystery series in Spirits of Mystery: Song of the Phoenix. Again take the role of the princess of the Dragon Kingdom as you set out to save your groom-to-be of the Phoenix Kingdom. Take down the sinister wizard of dark magic who's trying to turn the wedding of your dreams into a nightmare. It's time to put on those hidden-object/adventuring boots and kick some evil butt!

Ricardo Chellini's unexpected inheritance of a private island should have been a dream, but when he arrives to find the estate falling apart and discovers something wants him dead, he must unravel the mystery surrounding his family's violent, sad past if he wants to survive. A stunning and wonderfully creepy hidden-object adventure from Artogon Games.

Upon awakening in a run-down motel room, you hear a beeping sound. It seems to be coming from a tablet on the table across the room. A creepy message tells you the police are after you, to wash your face and get out. How did you get to the back end of nowhere, and what did you do to set the police on your trail? That's the set-up for a great new point-and-click adventure title, The Cross Formula from KatGames, developers of the popular Dream Chronicles series.

The fairytales you heard when you were young, the ones you thought stuffed with nonsense and meant only as cautionary allegories to frighten children into behaving properly, are not so far from the truth. So, as curious as Alice in Wonderland, you peek behind the veneer, following clues left by Fiona, a little girl trapped in another dimension, and become caught up in Otherworld: Spring of Shadows, a sumptuously-detailed fantasy adventurehybrid from Boomzap.

According to popular myth, werewolves are pretty much all over the place, leading normal lives just like the rest of us tax-paying citizens. For the most part, they're pretty normal. Walking around, visiting Starbucks, and maybe even holding the door for you when your hands are full. But when it's the full moon, werewolf kind has a difficult time blending in. And we're not just talking about the smell! In the new hidden object adventure game from ERS Game Studio, Shadow Wolf Mysteries: Bane of the Family, you get to dive a bit deeper into the family structure of a family of werewolves, learning all about their curse and how this odd transformation travels from parents to children.

Dark, grim, and filled with ghosts. Yes, that's what most adventure/hidden object hybrids seem to be these days. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if it's done really, really well. There's a new developer out there, Play Favorite Games, that has taken up the challenge and done just that with 9: The Dark Side, a spooky exploration of a cursed castle and town that delivers just about every bell and whistle you could ask for.

The life of a fairy tale detective must be an exhausting one. For one thing, you seem to get called in at a moment's notice all over the world whenever anything strange happens. For another, you must then spend a lot of time fighting your way through fairy tales as they were originally meant to be: dark, scary, and dangerous. However, you are again up to the task in the latest adventure/hidden object hybrid from Blue Tea Games, Dark Parables: Rise of the Snow Queen.

Charles and his twisted son Victor are back in Mystery Case Files: Escape from Ravenhearst, the third and final (?) installment of the popular Ravenhearst adventures. Replacing the standard hidden object scenes with morphing objects, this is not your usual hidden object adventure hybrid. The mini-games are fun and challenging, and best of all skippable if they turn out to be not your cup of tea. There is a bit of back-and-forth backtracking, although not nearly as much in Return to Ravenhearst as Escape from Ravenhearst is divided up into more manageable sections. If dark and twisted with a side of gorgeous is your cup of tea, then this is definitely the game for you!

Remember Titus? Sure you do, he's that dummy who got himself trapped in a magic book his malevolent uncle left lying around. Then he called on you to help free a library from an evil genie who was ruining the classic stories contained within. It's been a few years, but Titus is back in the latest (and greatest) installment of the Azada series of adventure/hidden object hybrids, Azada in Libro. That darned evil uncle is trying to take over the magical land of Azada once again, and this time it's personal!

Death Under Tuscan Skies: A Dana Knightstone Novel is the latest hidden-object adventure hybrid in the Dana Knightstone series, and it explores the pitfalls of the life of a famous professional writer. Dana has decided to take a break from writing and accepts a gig as a guest lecturer at a University in Tuscany. Things start to take a turn for the mysterious when a handsome professor and a melancholy ghost make their appearances. Pretty soon Dana is blowing off research for the lecture to solve a mystery involving a girl that died young of a mysterious disease and her missing love, Giovanni. Those looking for a relaxed, non-scary adventure that still features ghosts should give this amusing and entertaining hybrid a try.

Storylines in the adventure/hidden object hybrid genre of casual games contain a massive range of scenarios. Some are set in the past, some feature magic and curses, some feature an orphan on a quest to find their family, some feature time travel, etc. But what do you think about a game having all of the above? And more? Check out Time Mysteries: The Ancient Spectres by Artifex Mundi to see how that's possible!

Not too long ago a relative newcomer to adventure/hidden object hybrids, ChaYoWo games, took us on a journey through the heart of Southern India in The Dark Hills of Cherai. Now they're back and once again the player will be transported to a place few will ever be able to visit in The Dark Hills of Cherai: The Regal Scepter.

What would you be willing to do to recapture your first true love? You'll get to explore the answers to that question in Media Art's Love Story: The Beach Cottage, the second adventure/hidden object hybrid game in the Love Story series that grabs the hopeless romantic in all of us and takes us on a journey that may (or may not) give us the "happily ever after" we're looking for.

Ah, the Victorians. There are many tropes from their literature that still haunt us today, including eerie women dressed in white appearing at lonely intersections, pale, blood-sucking gentlemen in evening attire, and dark-skinned men wearing turbans. Perhaps the greatest of the era's paranoias was the thought of being buried alive, which permeated the culture to the point of having little bells and pulls installed on coffins. That fear was encapsulated in one of Edgar Allan Poe's great stories which has now been turned into a stunning adventure/hidden object hybrid, Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The Premature Burial. Yes, ERS Game Studio is back with their third adaption of a Poe story, and this one is a killer! (sorry, bad pun)

Ding dong the witch is dead! Wait, what? She's still not dead? Not only that, the old hag is back and badder than ever creating havoc in the museum in Echoes of the Past: The Citadels of Time, the latest adventure/hidden object hybrid by Orneon and sequel to both Echoes of the Past: Royal House of Stone and Echoes of the Past: The Castle of Shadows. Perhaps it's time to stop hanging out in that darn museum? Just saying.

Belle's happily-ever-after is cut short when her Prince is once again cursed by the same evil enchantress who turned him into a Beast. The entire kingdom has fallen under a dark spell, and Belle is the only one left to stop it, assuming she can avoid the dangers and dark magic twisting her world at every turn in this stunning, engrossing hidden-object adventure from the makers of Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera.

Often when game designers try to throw everything but the kitchen sink into an adventure/hidden object hybrid, what you end up with is an incoherent mess. In the case of Voodoo Chronicles: The First Sign by Space Monkey Games, start with a hard-boiled detective film noir, cross it with a horror movie, add in elements of steampunk, and the result is a fantastic, glorious sprawling mess of a game that is very difficult to put down and harder still to walk away from.

The newest adventure/hidden object hybrid from HitPoint Studios, The Secrets of Arcelia Island is an experience in sumptuous environments, beguiling scenery and affable puzzles. Help Greta on her mission to save Arcelia Island from the witch Sirenia's curse by gathering clues, searching for objects and solving puzzles in expertly rendered realms that mix fantasy and mystery, surrealism and substantive locales. On the way you'll meet and help island inhabitants including a regal fairy queen and king, an elf, a satyr, and the sorceress Sirenia herself.

Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom is a magical enchanted ride and a worthy successor to the games that preceded it. As before, when you complete the main story, there are a nice variety of the main puzzles available from the game menu to prolong the experience. Gorgeous, fun and compelling, The Goblin Kingdom is everything you could want in an hidden object adventure hybrid and more.

A g-g-g-ghost! More than one, even! Actually, the mansion Ashley finds herself called to is practically heaving with spectres, all of them with unfinished business, and a mysterious being informs her that she is the only one who can set them free. Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost is a point-and-click adventure from Casual Box. It looks stunning, almost like a playable Saturday morning cartoon (readers aged 30 and over, that reference is for you!), and even though the puzzle elements are a bit thin, the game manages to paint an atmosphere of intrigue that draws you right in.

It's been a long, strange year, hasn't it? First your great uncle passed away, then you had to move to the odd little town of Queensbury to help your grandmother run the family soup stall, then a curse hits the town and suddenly the only thing standing between the townsfolk and complete chaos is your great-uncle's magical spirit soup recipe. Wait, wha? Seriously, that's the premise behind newcomer Twilight Games' fabulously goofy new adventure. Play Spirit Soup: The Queensbury Curse and travel back to a simpler time when adventure games were goofy and magical soup could save the day!

The long-awaited sequel to Hidden Expedition: The Devil's Triangle has finally arrived! H.E.A.T. (that's the Hidden Expedition Adventure Team) is back and is finally going to rescue the pilot! So was the nearly two year wait for Hidden Expedition: The Uncharted Islands worth it? Without hesitation, a resounding: YES! The Uncharted Islands is fun for everyone, from newbies to the most hard-core adventure addicts. Most definitely worth the wait!

Do you think you're safe from the denizens of the night just because you turned the light on? Does the warmth of the sun scare away evil just because it's bright and cheery? Think again. As Redemption Cemetery: Children's Plight aims to prove, you're never safe from the demons of this world (or any other world). A follow-up to the first point-and-click hidden object/adventure hybrid from ERS Game Studios, Redemption Cemetery: Curse of the Raven, this installment forces you to ask the difficult question: how the heck am I going to fall asleep tonight after witnessing that?

A nightmarish wreck at sea one evening should have left you and your father dead, but instead you find yourself a lost soul stranded at the bottom of the briny deep, trapped somewhere between life and death by none other than Davy Jones himself. In this creative, cheesy-good hidden-object adventure, you'll have to play the malevolent sea-spectre's games if you want to win your freedom, but with so many other listless spirits trapped below the waves for who knows how long it looks like the odds aren't in your favour. Will you be able to rescue your father and the oddball assortment of other beings who lost themselves to Davy Jones' tricks, or are you doomed to an eternity underwater?

Unsolved Mystery Club: Ancient Astronauts can be quite a challenge for the advanced gamer while still being easy enough for the beginner. With its fantastic visuals and engrossing story Unsolved Mystery Club: Ancient Astronauts is not to be missed, even if you are more skeptical than Scully about the whole aliens-interacting-with-ancient-peoples thing.

Blue Tea Games, a studio that knows its hidden object adventure genre better than a chef knows how to boil water, is at it again. Following series such as Enlightenus, Dark Parables, and Forgotten Riddles is a tough job, but Macabre Mysteries: Curse of the Nightingale definitely holds its own, crafting an environment filled with intrigue, danger, mystery, and loads of shiny objects to find. It's a hidden object/casual adventure game for the most discriminating fans, and it never fails to impress from beginning to end.

Gorgeous, entertaining, and fit for both the noob and the advanced adventure gamer, Timeless: The Forgotten Town is a feast of astounding visuals and amusing gameplay. Do not, however, expect an exciting roller-coaster ride of adventure in game form. Instead, enjoy a quiet and meditative stroll down avenues of the past, probably a lot more entertaining than actually being there.

You wake up. Disoriented. Outside of an abandoned town. All you know is your motorcycle is ruined, but a series of vague images continually float through your mind. The town you're stranded outside of was evacuated decades ago because of a fire in the mines. Coal is still burning below the surface, and something ghostly walks the streets above ground. Vampire Saga - Welcome to Hell Lock, a sequel to Vampire Saga: Pandora's Box, is an extraordinarily well-done hidden object adventure that incorporates classic horror film methods to create a creepy, captivating world that draws your interest out with each and every step you take.

When Amanita Design's Samorost or Machinarium meets a smart, non-formulatic hidden object game, The Tiny Bang Story is the beautiful result. A point-and-click puzzle game at heart, this charming release from Colibri Games will hook you from the start, keeping your eyes busy and your cursor mobile from the opening screen all the way to the very end. It's a stunning and very memorable game that will make you wish more games followed its careful design concepts.

Amanda Rose: The Game of Time, developed by Renergy, takes the idea of hurtling through a time-space continuum one step further by way of a small stone in an unfolding cube found by our heroine, Amanda, at the site of a plane crash. It's not an easy ride though and after several days of unconsciousness, she awakes to an adventure that will take her through the wild west of America to the amazing lost city of Atlantis. Of course there are multiple hidden objects to be found to help her on her way.

Voodoo Whisperer: Curse of a Legend is a hidden object adventure hybrid that brings the atmosphere and mystery of New Orleans to you in the comfort and safety of your own home. A moody soundtrack accentuates the gorgeous and stunning visuals in the game, as well as the brilliantly detailed and almost photo-realistic hidden object scenes. What Voodoo Whisperer brings to the table is a twist on the usual gameplay along with fantastic atmosphere and a gripping story that keeps the player engaged while sending shivers down the spine.

Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water is virtually a pure point-and-click adventure experience of the old Myst school of gameplay, with some minor hidden object elements mixed in. Book of Water picks up where Book of Air left off, with the heroine Lyra making her way back home to the land of Wish after her adventures with the Clockmaker. Stunning to look at, a joy to listen to (the soundtrack is lovely as always), challenging, entertaining, and downright fun, Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water is a worthy successor to the previous games in the series, while setting the stage for the (hopefully) big wrap up that is to come.

Spirits of Mystery: Amber Maiden offers a lot of fantastic adventuring and hidden object gameplay. The beautiful scenery, the competent voice acting, the amusing animations and the fine interface guarantee lots of fun for fans of the genre. So take some time and explore this gorgeous world while saving the kingdom from a fate that is, while visually very pretty, in reality not all that pretty.

One passenger on a lonely road in the middle of the night is about to change your life forever. When a mysterious girl who you give a lift to a small town in the middle of nowhere leaves a relic from your childhood in the backseat, you go looking for answers, but might not make it back home safely. Artogon Games delivers a flawed but ultimately genuinely scary title that horror adventure fans will want to check out.

You're not sure who you are. You don't know where you are. And a mysterious dark shadow is following you around, clouding your memory. It's shaping up to be quite a bad day as Echoes of Sorrow, a new casual adventure game from BlitPop, begins. This title drops a few hidden object scenes to flavor an otherwise straight-up free roaming adventure game that emphasizes exploration and inventory puzzles. Not only do you have to gather items from various parts of the game, but you're usually not sure what to do until the very last moment. It's a smartly paced game that hits all the sweet spots for casual adventure fans.

Dark Parables: The Exiled Prince is a hidden object game that focuses on finding fragments of items throughout a series of dark scenes. The game improves upon almost every aspect over its prequel, creating a fantastic hidden object gaming experience!

As a series of murders and disappearances rock a small town, you are called in to the thick of it to help unravel the mystery. But when all signs point to something of supernatural origin, can you bring yourself to believe the truth? Or will you wind up another victim before you can rescue anyone else? A beautifully done hidden-object adventure from ERS Game Studio.

Brawe is back! Not long after the first episode of Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World was released, Episode II of the retro-styled adventure series hit and picked up where the original left off. It's more pointing and clicking, more humor, more epic red beards, and more smart puzzles, all for you, starving adventure game fan!

Ever wonder what your humble garden gnome is up to when you're not looking? Apart from hours of practice standing completely still and grinning incessantly, gnomes are sneaky and underhanded. Apparently. Looks like some conjuration of magic is in order, and what better way to help than by exploring the world of gnomes and creating potions in Hodgepodge Hollow, a mesmerizing and charming hidden object game.

When your car veers off the road one night following a bizarre episode, you have no choice but to seek help at the comfortingly named Drowned Dead Hotel despite the frantic warnings of one of the young women living there. It quickly becomes apparent that you're going to need more than a mechanic to get out, and both the crumbling hotel and nearby town hold more than their share of unpleasant little secrets. Codeminion's latest hidden-object adventure allows you to switch to match-3 on the fly if you don't like item searching, and also provides some genuinely creepy atmosphere to make one very engrossing game.

Dana Knightstone is a writer, but she would really prefer to be a best-selling writer. A trip to Scotland seems like just the thing to get the inspiration she needs for her latest historical romance, but the mystery she soon stumbles on to is anything but romantic. The old hotel hides a lot of secrets, and before long Dana finds herself trying to solve an ancient murder case. Uncover the truth in this gorgeous new adventure puzzle game from Boom Zap.

Just like its predecessor, Awakening: The Dreamless Castle, Awakening 2: Moonfell Wood bills itself as a hidden object adventure, but it plays more like a fairy tale puzzle adventure with hidden object mini-games. That's to say, you won't spend too much time looking for objects from a list, but you'll spend plenty of time picking up items and learning how to use them to progress through the game.

When her boyfriend goes missing while investigating an old asylum, it's up to you to guide our plucky heroine safely past the bizarre nightmares and experiments that make up the Green Hills Sanitarium and this fun, weird hidden-object adventure title. Despite a few flaws, it's just the sort of engaging, creative title you might have been craving... especially if you're a fan of bad 1980's horror movies.

It's interstellar space travel, early 1800s-style! Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World is the first episode in a planned two part series point and click adventure games that keeps story and puzzles high on the list of priorities. Kaptain Brawe features a whimsical setting stocked with hilarious dialogue, quirky characters, and more gorgeous hand-drawn art than you can shake an ion-proton drive at.

Re-experience this classic, fantastic example of adventure gaming and storytelling at its finest, or discover the series for the very first time. Follow Nicole Collard and George Stobbart on a trilogy of adventures that take them across the globe. Uncover the secrets behind an ancient order, find out what a drug cartel has to do with a Mayan artifact, and escape from the depths of the jungle after a plane crash. The Broken Sword series mixes adventure, humour, mystery, and even a little romance, and the complex narratives and challenging puzzles will keep you busy for a long time.

A letter from a colleague brings you to the countryside, where a young police officer has vanished while investigating a string of disappearances inside a mansion said to be the home of the legendary Queen of Spades; a woman rumoured to have made a deal with the devil in exchange for a pack of cards that brought her riches before she died, cursing the place. Naturally, you scoff at such mystical poppycock... but it's hard to ignore the possibility when the bodies start piling up and you find yourself being followed by a strange... creature. Solve the mystery and come out alive in this hidden-object adventure from ERS Game Studio!

When a gang of puppies ruins the baby shower being planned by Flo's friend Quinn, it's up to Flo to fix everything and make sure every goes off without a hitch. It better be perfect, because it seems all of Diner Town is getting ready for this shower. Oh, there's one more problem...the expecting mother, Vicky, is missing. You had better find her too in this point-and-click adventure sequel to 2009's Avenue Flo.

When Amber receives an urgent letter telling her the threat she thought she saved Westwind Village from thirty years ago has returned, she hurries home to put an end to it. Unfortunately, she returns to find the villagers under a dark curse and sinister magic affecting the lush landscape. Help Amber use the abilities taught to her by the shamans to banish the Dark Priests, thwart their resurrection of the Chaos God, and keep the world from falling into darkness in this stunning hidden-object adventure hybrid.

When Henry Baskerville's father dies, Henry turns to the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes to help prove that the "curse" that has been responsible for the death of every single Baskerville has a logical explanation to dispel the rumours. But is the explanation really so elementary? While it definitely takes liberties with the story, this is a fantastic hidden-object adventure with challenging puzzles, beautiful visuals, and high production values.

In this hidden-object adventure title, a series of increasingly violent murders brings an FBI Agent back to her small hometown for the first time in years. What follows is a genuinely creepy and well-crafted horror mystery full of things that will make you jump and scenes that will make the hair prickle on the back of your neck.

Time Mysteries: Inheritance is a hidden-object adventure game where you play the role of Vivien Ambrose, a young British physicist searching for her lost father by using a magical crystal ball that lets her travel through time. Her adventure spans over a millennium, and is filled with different locales, interesting characters, and dozens of various puzzles to solve.

There's a reason "I love you" and "I hate you" use the same number of letters. In this dark hidden-object adventure based on the classic story, you play Evelina, the daughter of a once-renowned Opera Diva, who one day receives a letter from a stranger. The next thing she knows, she awakens in the crumbling remains of an old Opera House... but she isn't alone. Creepy and incredibly well put together, with a heavy emphasis on story, Phantom of the Opera deserves a spot on every adventure game enthusiast's shelf.

After three well-known, eccentric public figures go missing inside an old house with a bad reputation, it's up to you to find out what happened to them. Easier said than done, since this is Void mansion, and there are more secrets, and more surprises, hidden within its walls and beyond than you could ever imagine. A remarkably creative and tremendously fun hidden-object adventure game that is definitely worth a look.

When Sara Davies goes missing, the media has good reason to suspect it's a hoax... especially since she's been seen at a distance on her manor grounds, usually within the company of a black cat. Can you and Inspector Dupin finally get to the bottom of things in this dark hidden-object adventure game inspired by the classic Edgar Allan Poe tale? And, more importantly, is Dupin ever going to do anything to help out?

When we last left our nameless, amnesiac hero in The Fall Trilogy Chapter 1: Separation, he was plummeting down through a metal chute after having been indeterminably shot with an anaesthetic dart. Now, in The Fall Trilogy Chapter 2: Reconstruction we find our hero regaining consciousness in the basement of a 22-storey office block in an unknown city, and not unlike his adventure in the temple he has to find hidden objects and solve puzzles to regain his memory and find his family.

Reincarnations: Uncover the Past is the sequel to Vogat Interactive's 2009 creation Reincarnations:The Awakening. Jane's amazing gift of being able to revisit the lives she lived in the past has attracted the attention of a malevolent asylum director, and so she has been kidnapped and is being unlawfully held in the asylum. In this more recent release, Jane's only hope of escaping lies in being able to access her past lives, and it's up to you to help her find the way. To do this, point-and-click, find hidden objects and solve some artful puzzles to progress through each of Jane's past lives and eventually liberate her from the asylum.

Royal Trouble, the latest from Heartwild Solitaire creator Orchid Games, is a casual point-and-click adventure game that focuses on Princess Loreen and Prince Nathaniel as they try to escape the dungeon without driving each other mad in the process. Players in search of an amusing script with memorable characters and looking to solve some logical puzzles shouldn't miss out on this escapade.

A new casual adventure game from Ghost Ship Studios, Nightmare Adventures: The Witch's Prison takes you on a dark and creepy tour of an abandoned asylum. The grim setting and somewhat unhinged events that transpire set an interesting plot that drives the game's thoughtful, fluid puzzles. Your reward for solving puzzles is more of the story, and you'll devour every tidbit of information the game gives you.

When her childhood friend gets locked up by the evil emperor, Yu sets off in a journey through ruined towns, haunted woods, underwater palaces and alternative realities where snails fly in this brand new hidden object/adventure game!

There's another world inside a painting, another time period, and one that needs your help. After the events of Royal House of Stone you thought the witch had been dealt with, but when you suddenly find yourself stranded in a realm where the inhabitants have been cursed into shadow, it's up to you to put a stop to her once again in this fun point-and-click/hidden-object hybrid.

The dead are restless, but lucky for you they want your help and not your juicy, juicy brains. After a car accident, you wake up to find yourself in a cemetery; very much alive, but still unable to leave. If you help the anguished souls lingering around their graves complete their unfinished business, you may be able to escape, and set some wrongs right in the process in this stylish point-and-click/hidden-object hybrid from the makers of the PuppetShow series.

Hunting for what remains of her family, Christine heads to her Grandfather's last known location; a remote asylum, now abandoned... or is it? The prequel to Nightfall Mysteries: Curse of the Opera is unfortunately a little easy, but this hidden-object/point-and-click hybrid is still beautiful, freaky fun to fill your evening.

Strange visions are making Claire doubt her sanity, and she thinks a trip to visit her aunt is just what she needs to clear her head. Unfortunately, when she arrives, she find her aunt is missing, and the woman may have been involved in much stranger things than Claire ever suspected. Although it falls short on originality, this atmospheric point-and-click/hidden-object hybrid offers up unique locations, tricky puzzles, and a lot of mystery.

Have you heard about Gatsby? He's a millionaire, but that's all anyone seems to know about him. Some say he's a thief. Others say he killed a man. And what's the deal with his curious preoccupation with his neighbours? Find out in the remarkably well presented hidden-object game adaptation of the classic novel.